Ghost
by Anna Greenway
Summary: Rework/Relaunch. The CSIs are dispatched to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances in the remote Nevada desert. All however, does not go to plan ...
1. Chapter 1

**GHOST**

Prologue

It had been three hours since Brass realised the CSIs were missing, one since he suspected they were dead.

Standing amongst the hive of LVPD squad cars, he glanced out at the perilous night-time desert. It was dark, yet he had been in Nevada long enough to know that that only made it more dangerous. The winter temperatures froze the desert once the sun went down, and it had been raining now for several hours. The normally dusty desert was now a swamp of mud puddles. Water droplets clung to the branches of the salt brush, glistening under the flashing red and blue lights of the squad cars.

He wrenched his attention away from the landscape, trying to quash the knot of raw fear twisting in his stomach.

He turned to his search party, as the last few stragglers at the far cars hurriedly zipped up windbreakers and sploshed through puddles to join him.

"All right, hurry up, let's move!" Brass called.

As the last of them caught up, Brass glanced over the crowd. Strained faces were focused back on him; he recognised in them the same fear he felt himself.

He took a breath. _Alive. He had to hope they were still alive._

"All right, let's make this quick, we don't have much time," he started. "What we know is this: Five CSIs from the night shift were dispatched yesterday to look into a series of disappearances at a remote camping site. With them were sent Detectives Curtis and Vartann. They were instructed as scientists to look into rumours of various sightings which were thought may be relevant."

"You mean ghosts?" a cadet asked, looking nervous.

"They were sent to _disprove_ it," Detective Vega cut in, looking impatient.

Brass heard his temper crack. "Call it what you like, but the entire team's been missing for up to ten hours," he said sharply. "They had a radio in their possession with instructions to call in every two hours. Last communication was from Detective Curtis at around 8:00pm, saying they were about to take a look around. No one's heard from them since. Attempts to contact anyone in the team have been unsuccessful. Given the history of the case –" He stopped, a lump in his throat. "We fear the worst."

He paused. For a split second his eyes landed on Greg, who stood restless at the back of the crowd, brown eyes tormented with terror. By some strange fate, perhaps providence, he had been the only graveyard CSI who had dodged the dispatch the day prior. It had been his night off.

"So you know the deal, this is a search. We'll start with the camp site, which is five miles away, accessible only by foot. Keep your eyes peeled and your weapons close."

With that, they departed. They moved at a jog, the horde of boots thumping and squelching through the mud. As they reached the start of the hiking trail the scrub changed into light woodland, the track winding up into the slopes. The trees looked pale and eerie in the dark, but Brass focused hard on the trail, determined not to lose their way.

Behind him the search party followed, their flashlights slicing through the trees. Greg, as a CSI, had been ordered to the rear of the pack for safety. As Brass jogged up the track, Detective Vega fell into step beside him.

"We'll find them," Vega said bracingly, his face determined.

Brass said nothing, not trusting himself to speak. The knot of fear tightened in his chest.

"You know both Catherine and Warrick are Vegas born and bred," he went on. "They know the desert. They know how to survive."

He took no comfort from this.

"I'm not worried about their survival skills," Brass said flatly. "I'm worried about whether they got a chance to use them."

Vega had no answer. They proceeded up the narrow trail in silence as the woodland thickened, and in the enclosed darkness Brass began to feel strangely isolated. In his head he tried to estimate how far they had come. Two, three miles at the most, he supposed. He was beginning to feel a stitch piercing his side when Vega threw out a hand, smacking it into Brass' chest.

"Wait, stop!"

Behind him a female officer nearly collided with Brass' back.

"What is it?" she asked, immediately lowering her voice to a hush.

The search party fell still and silent.

"You hear that?" Vega asked.

He squinted into the darkness ahead, the beam of his light scanning the ghostly trees.

Brass silently slid his weapon from its holster, scanning in all directions.

It was then that he heard it – the quick thuds of someone pelting toward them.

Brass cocked his weapon at the same time as Detective Vega.

"LVPD!" he shouted. "Stop there!"

But the footsteps kept coming, the gait slightly random and off-beat, and then suddenly a figure appeared amongst the distant trees.

"Stop where you are!" Vega shouted, weapon poised. "I warn you we're armed!"

Another shout came from behind him. "LVPD! Stop and tell us your name!"

But as Vega's fingers tightened, taking aim, the pale runner emerged into clear view. Brass' heart leapt into his throat, his cry of recognition echoed by Greg behind him.

"SARA!"

In a split second Greg had surged past, roughly pushed Vega's gun down, and ran the few feet as Sara pelted toward them. Her eyes held no recognition for them, no recognition that anyone at all even stood there. She sprinted with wide-eyed panic, her face white and terrified, her wet hair plastered to the sides of her face and her shirt hanging half open.

"Sara!" Brass echoed.

He withdrew his weapon just as she collided into Greg.

"Hey, hey, it's me!" Greg shouted.

He caught her shoulders hard, stopping her.

"Sara –"

She struggled against him, trying to fight him off. Brass leapt forward and together with Detective Vega, grabbed her hard.

"Sara!"

"Woah, woah, woah," Brass said quickly. "It's okay, it's okay …"

"Sara, it's us!" Detective Vega shouted.

"_Sara_!"

And at last the panic in her eyes dimmed, her trembling irises focusing on him.

"It's me," Brass said kindly. "You're safe. You're okay …"

She breathed hard and raggedly, eyes still wide as recognition dawned.

Her body went limp, the fight vanishing and her form slumping into them. He caught her with Vega as her legs collapsed. Heavy, they lowered her to the ground. Her face was tear-stained, her cheeks scratched.

"It's us," Brass repeated. "It's us. You're okay –"

She continued to breathe hard.

"Sara, are you hurt?" the female officer asked. Brass caught a glimpse of the crowd surrounding them, heard someone at the back talking fast into a radio.

Sara didn't reply.

"You okay?" Greg asked. "Sara?"

She said nothing, shaking.

"Get a paramedic!" Brass shouted. "She needs help."

"You're okay, Sara," the female officer said kindly, moving to rearrange her torn shirt to cover her. "You're all right –"

One of the crowd quickly handed Vega his windbreaker, and Vega spread it over her as Brass supported her weight. Every inch of her was shaking hard.

"We're gonna get you out of here," Greg said, grasping her arm. "You're okay."

"Sara, where are the others?" Vega asked quickly. "Where are they?"

Sara closed her eyes, shaking too hard to answer.

"Sara!" Vega shouted, trying in vain to get her attention. "Are they okay? Are they _alive_?"

But Sara did not answer.

"She's in shock," Brass provided. "You go," he ordered. "Get the others. I'll stay with her."

Vega glanced hurriedly between Sara and the deserted track, but then nodded. He holstered his weapon. They had no time to lose.

"You stay with them," Vega ordered, collaring two officers beside him. "Everyone else!"

The crowd departed at a sprint. In the night silence, Brass stared down at the broken CSI in his arms and prayed with all his might that the others were alive.

XXX

Later, after a long hike down back to the squad cars, after the paramedics had helped the shivering Sara into dry clothes and wrapped a thick blanket around her shoulders, Brass sat with her on the tail bar of the ambulance, looking out into the wet desert as she fought to regain her composure. He sensed her recovering when she refused point blank to be taken to hospital, and when she sniffed and wiped at her eyes.

He wondered then if she was finally ready to take questions. He was hugely relieved to find Sara, but he knew the others were still missing, still lost somewhere in the frozen, drenched desert. The knot of fear in his chest was like a cramp.

Still, he knew to be gentle.

"Here, try this," he said, offering her a thermos mug of coffee. "It's still warm."

Her hands trembled slightly as she took it, clutching it between both of her own. Brass watched as her anxious eyes lingered on the dark landscape. He knew then why she had refused to be taken to hospital.

"We'll find them," he promised. "We've got a search party looking. They're capable."

He glanced at Greg nearby, whose anxious eyes had not left Sara.

"We've just got to be patient," Brass consoled. "They'll be fine."

Amongst the knot of terror cramped in his chest, he felt also a writhing curiosity, but after thirty years of interviewing reluctant victims, knew there was a danger she would clam up if he pushed her. He searched for the gentlest words he could find.

"Of course," he added, "if there's anything you could tell us that would help, now would be the time."

Her eyes at last left the far horizon, and turned traumatised to meet his own.

Her voice broke. "I don't know where they are." She paused. "I don't even know if they're alive."

A stray tear slipped. She looked as if she was barely holding herself together.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Greg asked, shrugging. "It might help."

Sara wordlessly shook her head.

"Hey, come on," Brass soothed. "They might be a while. You know it's a lot of ground to cover. And any clue's a good clue."

"You won't believe it," she said softly.

"I've been around a long time," Brass assured. "I'll believe just about anything."

There was a pause.

"Tell us?" Greg asked.

And after a moment, she nodded.

* * *

><p><em>Apologies for the fact that I had to delete and re-work the opening of this story. The other version just didn't feel quite right. Much happier with this. Moving forward now ... cheers and thanks for your patience. Anna xoxo.<em>


	2. Chapter 2

The track was steep. One of few hilly areas in Nevada, the hiking trail climbed straight up the wild, unforgiving slopes at an angle that, to Sara, seemed more appropriate for mountain climbers than day hikers. Glad that she had had the foresight to purchase some solid hiking boots, she focused solely on her footwork – carefully placing her feet down on a slight angle to maximise grip, keeping herself in a steady rhythm.

Up ahead, her colleagues walked in a single file. The lively conversation from when they had first set off had long fizzled into a beat of steady, hard breathing. There was the dull thuds of their hiking boots, the odd avalanche of stones as someone misplaced their step. Like Sara, several of them were holding the straps of their packs, preventing the weight from cutting into their shoulders. The view either side of the dusty trail was stunning: the low salt brush allowed an unimpeded view over the desert valleys, but it had not been long before it had lost its appeal. The going was hard, the weight on Sara's back something she was not accustomed to. But she kept pace without comment, refusing to give in until at last Grissom paused at the head of the group, stopping at a cluster of rocks to gaze over his team.

"Let's rest," he ordered.

The team didn't protest. Sara herself threw her pack down at the nearest rock, and gradually eased her stretched and torn muscles to sit down. She rested for a moment, catching her breath.

Packs rained down as her colleagues joined them. Catherine's cheeks were red from the exertion, and even Warrick had slumped to grasp his knees, panting.

"_Damn_," was all he said.

"Man, this is a work-out," Nick agreed, sitting down weakly nearby.

"Drink some water," Grissom counselled. "We don't want any dehydration."

Nick nodded, and reached for his water bottle. Sara did the same. She caught a glimpse of Sofia and Vartann standing nearby, casting a wary glance over the landscape. Sara's mind returned then to the bizarre task at hand, the strange tales of mysterious sightings and disappearances in the hills over the past few weeks, and the rumours of a ghost. The Sheriff had stayed out of it until it began to receive media coverage, at which point he had phoned Ecklie and 'volunteered' the CSI team to investigate. Their brief was simple: disprove it, and put an end to it. Both Detectives Vartann and Curtis had been assigned as their police protection, and they took their roles seriously.

Nick put down his water bottle. "I'll be back in a minute, okay?"

Sara nodded on behalf of the group as he wandered off for privacy. She knew he was taking a leak.

Vartann wandered back into the circle. "So what do you think?"

Sara leaned back, relaxed. "It's a nice view."

"It's a long way," Warrick added.

"Long way to come for nothing," Catherine agreed.

"You don't believe in ghosts?" Vartann asked.

"Not yet," Catherine replied cynically.

Vartann looked to Sara.

"No way," she answered, smiling.

"The only thing we need to believe in is the evidence," Grissom said. "Let's take it one step at a time."

"But what if there is none?" Warrick asked, wondering aloud. "Let's say we go up there, and find nothing. Or even find a ghost. I mean, what are we supposed to do? Cuff it? Take it in for questioning?"

"Snap a picture," Sofia suggested. "Post it on You-Tube and retire tomorrow."

"This is the weirdest assignment we've ever had," Warrick said.

"Where would you rather be?" Sofia asked. "On the strip? Up to your neck in drugs and puke?"

"That's not what I'm saying," Warrick retorted. "I agree it's a nice break. I haven't been camping since I was a kid. But chasing a ghost? I don't see the point."

"It's political," Vartann replied. "We go there, find nothing, and the Sheriff can reassure the public that it's safe."

"It's an unusual assignment but we're going to take it seriously," Grissom counselled. "We go there, see what we can find, and make a conclusion accordingly."

Sara was on the cusp on nodding in agreement, but was distracted as she followed Vartann's gaze skyward. The grey clouds were thickening.

"It's going to rain," Sara realised, sitting up.

"We'd better get going," Warrick agreed. "We don't wanna get caught pitching tents in a downpour."

They stood, moving to grab their packs, just as Sara realised that their group was one short – Nick had not returned. She cast her eyes over the slope, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Nick!" she called.

Silence.

"I'll get him," Vartann volunteered.

He headed off into the scrub. The group waited, but a long moment passed, soundless.

"Nicky!" Catherine called. "You guys okay?"

She moved to follow just as the two men came back into sight. Vartann's arm was across Nick's shoulders, who looked distinctly the worse for wear.

"You okay?" Sara asked, concerned.

Nick waved down her concern. "Yeah, I'm good. Just tripped. Uneven ground."

Catherine studied him a moment longer.

"I'm fine, okay? Let's go."

His pride injured, they dropped it, and a moment later they had resumed their single file trek up the steep trail.

XXX

They hiked for nearly half an hour before anything changed. Their single file had stretched out until Sara could scarcely see Grissom at the front far ahead. She was content to hike last, quite relaxed, using her vantage point to cast periodic glances off into the surrounding landscape. It seemed calm, yet _too_ calm. There were no animals to see, even birds, and the sparse woodland seemed eerily lifeless. Or was it perhaps her imagination? She cursed herself. There was no such thing as ghosts.

She resumed focusing on the track at her feet just as Nick stopped in front of her. Out of breath, his hands slipped from his waist to his knees, bent over. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead.

She stopped beside him. "Hey," she said gently. "You okay?"

He took her shoulder for support just as he weakly folded to the ground. She fell to her knees with him.

"Whoa –"

"You know I don't feel so good," he confessed.

Sara took in his form – he looked pale, his face oddly white and clammy. He also looked too out of breath for what she knew was his high fitness level.

"You feel sick?" she asked.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Catherine turn, sensing they were no longer behind her. She heard her call Grissom's name, and the entire group turned to join them.

"I don't know," Nick said, confused.

"Nick?" Grissom queried, eyes narrowed upon him.

"He feels sick," Sara supplied. Taking control, she quickly shed her pack, before reaching for Nick's. "Take it off," she guided. "We'll rest a minute."

With Catherine's help, she removed it, putting it aside.

"Do you feel nauseous?" Grissom asked, crouched in front.

"Dizzy I guess," he answered. "A bit sick."

"Did you feel okay this morning, when we left?" Sara asked.

"I felt fine. It was just the last mile or two."

He closed his eyes where he sat, trying to steady himself. He waved away Catherine's offer of water.

"Are you asthmatic?" Grissom pressed.

"Not since I was a kid."

Head in his hands, and looking as if he may yet vomit, he looked unable to take any more questions. They let him rest for a moment, Catherine slowly rubbing his back. Sara pressed her hand to his forehead, and felt his clammy skin beneath.

She passed Grissom a look.

They sat with him for several minutes as he rested, but though he caught his breath, Sara thought he looked no better. She saw the lines of concern in Grissom's face deepen as the moments passed, and Warrick glanced at the darkening sky.

"It's gonna rain," he said pointedly.

"Do you feel able to go on?" Grissom asked gently.

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay," he said weakly.

He did not lift his head to meet Grissom's eyes, and Sara had her doubts.

"You wanna head back?" Vartann asked kindly. "I'll take you down, you can go home and rest. You don't have to worry about the case – we've got more than enough CSI power here."

"We've come at least five miles," Warrick argued. "It's a hell of a trek back if you're not feeling well."

"We can't have far to go," Catherine agreed, glancing at the track ahead of them.

"If you think you can make it to camp, we'll get your tent set up, you can get some rest," Sara offered.

Nick didn't answer.

"Nick?" Grissom prompted.

"Okay," he agreed, nodding weakly.

"We'll take it slow," Grissom counselled.

After several more words of comfort they helped him to his feet, and pressed on up the wild, remote track, a faint sense of unease now lodged in Sara's chest.

* * *

><p><em>I've really struggled with all my writing in the last 9 months or so. I don't know what's happened, but finally came back to this story today. Sorry, guys. The muse packed up and left me. <em>


	3. Chapter 3

It was not long later they reached the camping ground, and Sara paused at the end of the trail to cast her eyes over their surroundings. They stood in a level clearing nestled amongst the dark surrounding woodland, the ground dotted with circles of rock and ash where tourists had once lit fires. But the clearing now was deserted, empty except for a lonely stone shelter at the far end, inside which Sara could just make out an old picnic table, and a smaller building farther off which she guessed must be the toilet.

"Well, we're here," she said, looking to Grissom. "Where do you want to set up?"

"Over there," he said, pointing to the far shelter.

They headed as a group toward the shelter. Sara saw Sofia take a detour via one of the fires, peering down with interest.

"Looks like no one's been here in a while," she concluded.

"Maybe it'll work in our favour," Catherine replied, though her voice was one of faint hope. "If no one's been here since the disappearances occurred, maybe there's still some evidence."

"We don't even know what we're looking for," Warrick reasoned.

Sara stopped as they arrived near the hut, an unsettling thought striking her. "It's so quiet here, it's almost the perfect place to commit a crime. We're miles from anywhere, it's inaccessible by road –"

"You trying to reassure us over there?" Nick complained.

He looked up at her from where he was crouched beside his pack. He looked pale and irritable, as though events had already frayed his patience for the matter.

Sara held silent as Grissom strolled over, moving to help Nick unpack his tent.

"Let me give you a hand," he said kindly.

For a brief moment an awkward silence reigned; Sara saw both Warrick and Sofia pass her equally puzzled and concerned looks over Nick's behaviour, yet they said nothing. Sara moved toward Catherine and their discarded packs, reaching to help her unroll their own tent. For the sake of saving weight on the hike up, they had all been content to share, and due to the odd number only Sofia had a tent to herself.

Ten minutes later, after a cacophony of hammering, the four dome tents were set up, and after laying out her make-shift bed inside, Sara emerged to head over to the shelter where the rest of the team were gathered. The evening steadily drifting into darkness, Grissom had set up a camping lantern at the centre of the picnic table, which cast a bright light over the shelter. Warrick was unpacking some of their food supplies to prepare themselves a snack while they worked, and Sofia was in the corner, having raised Brass over the radio.

"Yeah, we're fine," she reported. "We've arrived safely – place is deserted."

"Nothing to report?" came Brass' voice.

"It's pretty quiet. We're gonna have something to eat, go over the case files. We might take a look around but I doubt we'll find much before morning."

"Well just take it easy," Brass said. "You know it's a long shot, you can only do what you can do. Think of it as a vacation."

"Some vacation," Sofia replied, only half joking. "That track you sent us up was nearly vertical. We should've brought some climbing gear."

"Well look on the bright side," he joked, "you spared me going."

Sofia smiled; she looked as if she could have gone on bantering, but held back over the open radio.

"Listen, I gotta go," Brass said. "I've got a call out. But take care, okay? Check in with us before you all turn in for the night."

"Okay," she assured. "I'll talk to you then."

They ended the call. Sara sat down with the men just as Catherine strolled over from Nick's tent, having emerged from her visit to ensure he was okay.

"How is he?" Grissom asked.

Catherine sighed. "Hard to tell," she said quietly. "He's taken a few aspirin, he's gonna get some rest. I think we just need to keep an eye on him."

"About all we can do," Warrick agreed.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Grissom assured. "We'll let him rest – he can sit this one out."

His fingers rested on several case files. Sara braced herself, knowing what was coming.

"Well," Catherine said, with an air of bravely facing the inevitable, "now that we're here, let's have it. Let's get this show on the road."

"Wait, I don't have a pen," Vartann said, moving to rise.

"You won't need one," Grissom replied. "Just take a seat and listen."

The briefing began. Sara listened closely as Grissom proceeded to lay out the details of the disappearances, and as he passed around the documents from the files. She studied them closely as she ate her way through a salad roll, scrutinising every statement for any small detail of significance. They were barely halfway through before Sofia got to her feet and began pacing, pausing to look out thoughtfully across the darkened camp site as she listened, and as Vartann began to blindly slide the documents passed to him along to Warrick, as he had long reached his own conclusion. When Grissom eventually paused, Catherine slowly laid down her glasses, looking as if she had no idea where to start.

Sara's own head was spinning; she struggled to wrestle her thoughts into order. "So … essentially, what you're saying is that we have three unexplained disappearances, plus four alleged sightings, all linked to this camp site, and that of those disappearances, none of them were even noticed as missing for at least forty-eight hours, at which time their belongings were simply found abandoned here with no trace whatsoever of the victim. None of the sightings have been backed up by any evidence, not even a photo … all in all, there's nothing to go on."

Warrick nodded his agreement. "There's no link between any of the victims, no history of any family issues or domestic violence, everything checked out. No clues at all."

"Nothing except this camp site," Grissom agreed.

Sara stared at him, unable to help noticing that despite the absurdity of the case, and the ridiculous reports of a ghost sighting, Grissom still seemed innocently intrigued. She wondered how much of a fight he had put up when the Sheriff had volunteered them to go camping for the night.

"Cath?" he prompted.

Catherine had been pinching the bridge of her nose for nearly a minute, having no words. She dropped her hand as he said her name, recovering her professionalism.

"I heard. So … what's the game plan?"

"Well if it's a ghost, maybe we should go out there and holler," Sofia suggested, smiling. "Get its attention."

"Yeah," Warrick agreed. "Plant a sign and play cards while we wait."

"We could sing a few songs around a camp fire," Vartann added.

Sara struggled to suppress her own smile, but Grissom didn't look amused. He stared them down until their smiles vanished.

"Sorry," Warrick offered.

"I think we should do a preliminary sweep," he suggested seriously. "Look for any clues in our immediate vicinity, at the very least be sure that we're safe here."

"It's getting dark," Sara said warily.

"We won't go far," Grissom assured. "We'll keep sight of camp at all times. Make sure you have your weapons and flashlights, and if you have any bright clothing, put it on. We want to stay visible."

He paused as the company turned serious. Sofia withdrew her weapon, checking it over with an efficient click.

"We'll go in pairs."

XXX

Five minutes later Sara stood in the edge of the forest, pausing to let her eyes adjust. The night was dark, the forest almost impenetrable in its shadows. She cast the beam of her flashlight between the trees, but saw nothing. The forest was still, and not a leaf or twig moved.

She glanced to Grissom beside her.

"Well … shall we?"

They stepped forward together into the forest. Despite the puzzling nature of the case, Sara could not help feeling alert as she walked, her heart beating slightly quicker in her chest, her eyes scanning keenly for the slightest movement or sound. She gripped her flashlight and weapon tight in her hands, yet as they walked all she could hear was their own feet rustling through the leaves and snapping twigs, and in the peaceful night silence it wasn't long before she felt herself begin to relax – there was nothing there, nothing to see other than Grissom beside her.

A short way down the hill they paused. Sara glanced over her shoulder, keeping track of the direction of the campsite.

"There's nothing here," she said. "It's quiet."

"I know," Grissom said softly.

He looked bothered, one eye narrowed in contemplation. He shone his light carefully between the trees, up to the treetops, and then crouched down, turning his attention to the forest floor.

As she watched he swept aside a handful of leaf litter, examining the ground.

Sara reined in a smile. "I thought this was a ghost hunt, not a bug hunt."

He stood again. "I expected to see more life than this. This forest is still."

"It's probably the weather," Sara rationalised. "The dark, the hour …"

He didn't look convinced. "Maybe."

She watched as a few raindrops fell nearby, plopping neatly onto the leaf litter at her feet. Another landed on white blouse, soaking through to wet her skin. She squinted upwards; the dark grey rain clouds of the afternoon had finally broken. She shivered; the frigid cold penetrating her thin blouse.

"It's raining …"

"The temperature's dropped," he observed, spotting her shiver. "Let's keep walking."

They turned, walking parallel to the camp site, keeping it carefully within their peripheral vision. Sara kept scanning the trees, shining her beam deep into the forest, but there was little to see. They walked for several minutes, her shirt steadily getting wetter, before a distant muffled yell brought them both to a halt.

"Did you hear that?" Grissom queried.

He stood still, listening hard. Just as Sara thought they had imagined it, it came again.

"_Sofia ..?" _someone called.

"It's Catherine," she realised, and felt a fear rise within her.

She caught only the briefest glimpse of Grissom's confused face before she broke into a jog, following Catherine's yells through the trees. She heard Grissom running a step behind her, twigs and branches snapping under their feet, his torch beam slicing through the forest alongside her own.

She paused a moment further on as silence fell again. She turned on the spot, disoriented.

"Catherine!" she called.

"Sofia…?" the voice searched.

"Up the hill," Grissom said quickly, breaking back into the run.

Sara jogged with him, her gun tight in her hand, jogging and dancing over the leaves and fallen branches. At last a distant light appeared, as Catherine's flashlight seized them. She stood at its helm, her eyes wide with fear.

"Cath!" Grissom called, running to her side.

"I've lost Sofia," she confessed quickly.

But there was no time to question her as she turned on the spot, looking stunned and confused. Her blue eyes frantically searched the trees, but to no avail. Without warning she broke into a jog again, weaving her way through several trees to get a clearer view down into the gully.

"Sofia?" Catherine called.

Sara followed, echoing the call. No response came. The raindrops thickened.

"Did you see which direction she went in?" Sara asked.

Catherine looked almost too stunned to answer. "Well, no, I –"

"Let's hold still and be quiet," Grissom instructed, taking Catherine's elbow to stop her. "See if we can hear anything."

Sara froze with them, straining her ears for any distant sound the forest had to offer. But the trees were silent except for the steady rain, and there was nothing. She felt raw fear knot in her chest – something was wrong.

Just as she opened her mouth to comment a twig snapped like a gunshot, out of sight amongst the trees.

"Sofia!" Catherine called.

Now unsure, Sara raised her weapon. She saw Grissom tighten his grip of Catherine's elbow.

Heart hammering Sara edged cautiously forward, Grissom and Catherine beside her, her eyes locked hard onto the direction of the sound. Slowly, gradually, she stalked it, her footsteps silent, until her probing eyes at last spotted something amongst the trees – Sofia.

"Sofia?" she called, lowering her weapon.

They broke into a jog, making their way down to her. Her back was turned, her frame rigidly still. Apparently she had not heard them.

"Sofia?" Catherine said again.

"Are you okay?" Sara asked.

She stopped beside her, and Sofia finally detached her gaze from the trees ahead.

Her voice trembled. "I … saw something."

* * *

><p><em>Thanks again to the kind people who left reviews on the last chapter (and those who forgave me for the 9 month delay in posting an update!). I'm really starting to get back into this one now, hope any readers are enjoying it as much as I am. ;)<em>


	4. Chapter 4

"You saw something?" Warrick repeated. "What?"

Sitting on the bench back in the camp shelter, Sofia had her head in her hands. After finding her in the gully they had lingered only a moment before returning to camp – the rain had escalated fast into a downpour, cutting off any hope of investigating the scene further, and even with their prompt retreat they were all soaked. Sara's own shirt was drenched as thorough as if she had swum back, the wet material clung cold to her skin, her brown hair dripping down the back of her neck. Next to her Catherine fared no better, but even so the cold was the last thing on Sara's mind.

"I don't know what it was," Sofia said, looking faintly impatient. "I don't have an explanation."

"Well what do you _think_ it was?" Grissom asked.

"I … have no idea," she confessed.

There was a momentary pause. The rain pounded on the roof of the shelter, falling from the edges like a waterfall. Puddles of mud gathered on the grass.

"What did you see?" Sara asked.

"There was a light," Sofia admitted. "Hovering. About twenty feet away."

"A light?" Warrick repeated.

"Like a flashlight?" Vartann asked.

"It wasn't a flashlight," Sofia said, voice certain. "Mine went out, Catherine was gone, and it wasn't a beam."

"Could it have been the moonlight, perhaps?" Warrick asked. "A break in the clouds?"

"I have no idea," Sofia repeated. "It was only there a second. I froze, watched it a moment, and then it was gone."

Warrick turned to Catherine. "And you didn't see anything."

"Like I said, we got separated," Catherine replied crisply.

Grissom looked confused, as though nothing was making sense.

"Okay, let's back up a minute," he said. "_How_ did you get separated?"

Catherine hesitated. "We were … walking a few yards apart, I thought I saw something move, I turned to look, and when I looked back she'd vanished."

To Sara it made no sense, and she stared, trying to piece together a puzzle which didn't fit. She saw in Grissom's eyes the same puzzlement.

"I fouled up," Catherine admitted, folding under Grissom's penetrating gaze. "I admit it."

"You didn't foul anything up," Vartann replied, moving to touch her shoulder. "Let's just be glad you're both okay."

There was a brief silence. Sara's head spun.

"Did you say your flashlight's broken?" Warrick asked, addressing Sofia.

"Yeah."

She pulled it from her belt and offered it to him. After flicking the switch and getting nothing, he proceeded to unscrew the end, examining the inside.

A more pressing worry had struck Sara, and she looked to Grissom.

"What if … we're not alone out here?"

"Let's not get paranoid," Catherine said sceptically. "That light could've been anything."

"Yeah," Warrick said, "including an enemy."

"I never said I saw a ghost," Sofia said, firing up. "I saw a light, among the trees … it could easily have been a natural phenomena."

"Or a killer's torch," Warrick said darkly. "We have three people missing – personally, I doubt they disappeared of their own accord. It seems too much of a coincidence. You know what I'm saying?"

Sara agreed, but carefully masked her fear. It was one thing to read about a strange sighting in a case report, another to have it happening in front of her.

"I think this torch is just a bad connection," Warrick reported, thudding it lightly on the edge of the table to jolt it alight. "Bad quality."

He passed it back to Sofia.

Grissom momentarily closed his eyes, getting his bearings.

"So what do you wanna do?" Sara asked.

"Play it safe," Grissom replied. "Until we can be sure it's nothing, it's not worth us taking any risks. So let's stick together. We'll stay here, stay close, until morning, and then conduct a more thorough search in daylight."

Catherine nodded, her eyes drifting the hard rain; the puddles at the edge of the shelter's concrete slab were deepening. She looked at her watch.

"It's gonna be a long night," she said simply.

"We might as well get some rest," Vartann suggested.

He shrugged and got to his feet. Warrick joined him.

"I'll go check on Nick," he said.

Sara didn't move; her mind was still reeling too fast to consider sleeping. But she felt suddenly how cold she was, and shivered involuntarily

"You should go change," Grissom suggested, not missing it. "Dry off."

"Yeah," she agreed, realising he was right.

"Maybe you should join us tonight," Catherine said to Sofia. "For safety's sake."

"I'll be fine," Sofia said, unfazed.

"It's not worth the risk," Grissom argued.

"Come on," Catherine said, rising with her. "We can laugh about it tomorrow."

XXX

In the end Sofia gave in, seemingly deciding that it was easier to play along than to argue, and five minutes later they had her gear stashed alongside the empty back wall of Catherine and Sara's tent. It was dark inside, the rain pitter-pattering on the canvas roof, and kneeling next to her sleeping bag, Sara quickly turned on her flashlight, unable to see a thing. Under the dim beam she removed her muddy boots, setting them aside, and then dug in her pack for a towel, thankful she had brought one.

"You may want to change your shirt," Catherine hinted, passing her a look. "You look like a schoolboy fantasy."

Sara looked down and saw her soaked white shirt had become see-through in the downpour. It clung to her skin and white bra underneath, hiding nothing.

"_Ah_," she said.

Sofia grinned from where she sat atop her sleeping bag, patting her long wet hair with a towel.

"You gave Grissom a real eyeful," she said, looking thoroughly amused.

"If he hadn't have been so distracted, he wouldn't have known where to look," Catherine added, laughing.

"Yeah," Sara said, "that's uh –"

Sara trailed off, rummaging quickly in her bag for a spare top. The others averted their gazes as she peeled off the wet shirt, and used the towel to dry her skin. When she slipped on a fresh black tank top, she emerged to see that the others had also changed, and that Catherine was moving to get in her sleeping bag.

She stopped halfway in, grimacing as her bare feet touched something.

"Wait, I think there's something here –"

She withdrew her feet, and ripped down the side zip with a swift screech.

"What is it?" Sofia asked.

Catherine shone her torch inside and emerged a second later with an audible grimace.

"_Ugh_ – I think it's a dead bug."

Taking a spare tissue from her pack she picked it up. Sara crinkled her nose, sympathetic.

"That's … gross," she offered.

"It's like sleeping in Grissom's office," Catherine said, looking disgusted.

"I heard that," came Grissom's voice, audible from the next tent.

"You bring your friends with you, Gil?" she joked.

"Goodnight, Catherine," Grissom said pointedly.

Catherine threw the bug outside before re-zipping the tent and returning to her bed. Sara slipped down into her own sleeping bag, turning the light off to stare at the raindrops on the canvas roof.

"Man, I think all the fun's happening in that tent," came Nick's voice.

"'Night, Nicky," Catherine offered.

"Sleep tight," he replied.

Unseen by the others, Sara smiled to herself, as despite the jokes her mind returned to what Catherine and Sofia had said, and as silence fell and the night set in, she wondered what else Grissom had heard – and what he had seen.

XXX

Sitting in the back of Brass' SUV, Sara paused in her story. She stared wistfully ahead, her mind halting painfully on the memory. It seemed so distant now, so incredibly faint. She had not told Brass and Greg the entirety of the conversation, leaving most of it out except that they had retired for the night. But in her mind, she dwelled on the memory, dwelled on that moment when her friends had all been living and joking beside her. She took another deep breath, determined to stay composed against the onslaught of emotional pain.

"So you were all safe at the time you went to sleep," Brass said.

"Yeah," Sara confirmed.

She could feel Brass watching her, his keen eyes willing her to go on.

"So what happened next?" Greg asked.

Sara didn't reply immediately.

"Well, uh …"

She trailed off, the memories evading her like insects fluttering just out of reach.

"Hey, it's okay," Brass said soothingly. "I know it's hard. Take your time."

He gave her a long moment, and they sat in silence, listening to the distant muffled voices on the radios of the officers nearby. Brass kept his arm around her, and after another moment changed the subject.

"Tell me," he said kindly, "those clothes you were wearing. That jacket. That's Sofia's, right?"

He nodded to the discarded pile of wet clothes next to them, the items the paramedics had changed her out of before helping her into a dry pair of forensic cover-alls. Amongst the sodden pile was her black tank top, her jeans, and a neat navy blue LVPD jacket.

Sara wasn't sure how he recognised it as Sofia's, but she nodded.

"Yeah."

"So I take it she loaned it to you for a while?" he went on. "Must've got a bit cold up there, huh?"

He said it casually, conversationally, but Sara's mind clenched at the memory.

"Yeah," she said. "Something like that."

He nodded. "So, when she gave that to you, what time was that?"

Sara hesitated.

"Had much time passed since you turned in?" he pressed gently. "An hour? Two? Three?"

"I guess about an hour," Sara admitted.

"So you woke," Greg concluded. "You didn't sleep long."

"I wasn't asleep."

She glanced into Brass' eyes, and saw his intelligent mind piecing together her story – that they had gone to bed, she had woken, and that for some reason Sofia had donated her jacket – something had happened.

"Why don't you give us a minute," Brass said to Greg.

With a final look of concern, Greg departed, moving to join the remaining officers.

"Look, I won't judge, okay?" he said kindly. "That's not what I'm here for. Now I know it's hard, I know it was scary, I know there are some things you don't want to talk about. But we just need to know the others are okay. That's all we want. And let me tell you something, just between us. I've known Sofia a long time. Same as I have you, Catherine and Grissom. And if you tell me something happened, that Sofia saw something, I believe you. To my mind that's not even in question. Okay?"

Sara nodded.

"Can you keep a secret?" she asked.

"If you tell me what happened, I'll take it to the grave. I promise."

She was still debating the matter when his hand moved, tenderly readjusting the blanket to sit better on her shoulders, holding it around her.

And at his sweet gesture her resistance crumbled, and with a sigh she resumed talking.

* * *

><p><em>I have to be honest - I had a really guilty pleasure in writing this chapter, there were parts of it I really enjoyed. Hope you guys felt the same in reading it. Cheers - Anna.<em>


	5. Chapter 5

XXX

In the darkened tent, Sara lay still, wide awake as she listened to the storm outside. For the last hour the rain had continued to pelt down, accompanied by periodic thunder, and she had remained flat on her back, calmly watching the rivers of water snake their way down the roof of the tent. She knew from the silence that most of her colleagues were asleep. In the shadows of the opposite wall, Catherine had long fallen still, exhausted from the day's hike, yet behind her head, Sara had heard the tell-tale rustles of a sleeping bag which told her plainly that she wasn't the only one awake.

As Sara continued to watch the pattern of raindrops on the roof, she heard Sofia shift yet again – and then a quiet frustrated sigh.

"Can't sleep?" Sara asked quietly.

"That storm's getting wild," Sofia whispered back.

A roll of thunder sounded overhead, closer than the rest.

"We probably picked a bad day to come camping," Sara agreed.

"Yeah, no kidding. By the time we leave tomorrow half the track'll be washed away. We'll be lucky to find our way back."

Sara caught the tension in Sofia's voice, and after a moment, rolled to face her. Sofia's face was pale and tense in the darkness; her sleeping bag twisted around her waist.

"You thinking about the case? About what you saw?"

"Trying to get it out of my head," she admitted. She sighed again. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Well maybe Catherine's right," Sara suggested. "Maybe it was nothing."

Sofia turned to look at her, eyes doubtful.

"You don't believe that."

"Do you?" Sara asked calmly.

Sofia didn't reply.

After a moment Sara quietly went on. "You know, what I think, is that even if there _was_ someone out there, I doubt they're gonna hang around on a night like this. If it was someone, you probably scared them off. Plus we're all armed, and trained …"

Sofia nodded. "Yeah."

"We'll be okay," she finished.

For a moment Sofia pulled herself together, and then smiled.

"I'm gonna get some air," she said. "Go to the bathroom."

Sara pushed herself up. "I'll come with you."

Though Sara felt little like walking out into the storm, she knew better than to let Sofia go alone. With a wary look to Catherine's sleeping form she quietly slipped on her shoes, before snatching up her gun and flashlight and following Sofia outside. The cold hit her instantly; the frigid air like ice against Sara's exposed arms. She shivered, and eager to make fast work of it, looked to Sofia.

"Shall we make a run for it?" she suggested quickly.

"You bet," Sofia replied.

They broke into a jog, sploshing through the wet grass and mud, until they reached the lonesome toilet by the treeline, where they stopped in the doorway. With Sofia's flashlight not working, Sara offered out her own, considering she probably needed it more.

"Thanks," Sofia said, taking it. "I'll only be a minute."

Alone in the darkness, Sara retreated a few feet away, waiting under the shelter of a tree. Ignoring the sounds coming from the toilet, she cast her eyes out into the trees. It was dark, the night so black that she could barely see even a few feet in. She wondered suddenly about her reassuring words to Sofia, and how accurate they had been.

She banished the thought just as something moved in her corner vision – the slightest fleck of shadow darting out of sight behind a tree.

She froze. Taking a step in, she squinted in its direction, but saw nothing. She glanced up, but despite the storm the trees were not moving.

"There's some more of Grissom's friends here," came Sofia's voice from the toilet. "Looks as if they've been dead a while."

Sara didn't reply, unsettled.

"Sara?" came Sofia's voice. "You still there?"

Sara opened her mouth to reply but was distracted as the shadow slipped again through her peripheral vision, darting out of sight just as quickly.

She took a step back, raising her weapon.

"Sofia!" she called. "There's something moving out here …"

"Sara?"

The air felt cold, _bizarrely_ cold …

She blinked, trying to stay focused.

"Sara?"

With a thud she fell to her knees.

XXX

"Sara? _Sara_?"

When she woke, Sara immediately felt cloudy and disoriented. She opened her eyes to find the world on a strange angle, and it was a split second before she realised that she was on the ground. She lay on her side, the grass cold and wet against her skin, Sofia kneeling beside her, looking on edge. She had her gun gripped tight in her hand, the torch beam shining down on Sara's body.

"You okay?" Sofia asked quickly.

Sara blinked, her head fuzzy. "What happened?"

"I came out and you were on the ground," Sofia replied.

Sara again tried to clear the fog. As the blood flow returned to her head her gaze fell on the forest, and the memory jolted back. She flew up onto her elbows.

Catching on, Sofia spun around, aiming her gun at the trees. She scanned carefully, searching for any sign of movement.

"Where'd they go?" she demanded. "Did you see?"

Sara shook her head. "No, I uh … "

But she was unable to offer an explanation. Face hard, Sofia watched for another moment before turning back and quickly holstering her weapon.

"Can you get up?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sara replied.

Sofia helped her to her feet, and, seizing her elbow, began to walk her in the direction of the campsite. Sara's mind reeling, she walked blindly, not comprehending anything she found herself suddenly at the shelter.

Sofia sat her down on the wooden bench.

"Stay there," she ordered.

Sara barely nodded before Sofia kept walking, marching toward the tents.

"Guys, get up!" she yelled.

She went straight for Vartann's tent, tearing up the zip and entering. A moment later Vartann appeared, blinking and confused, and he was followed closely by Warrick. A second later Grissom emerged, his grey hair mussed from sleep.

"Grab your gun," she ordered.

She marched toward the shelter, flicking the safety off on her weapon.

"What the hell happened?" Catherine asked, emerging from their own tent and eyes landing immediately on Sara.

"I found her unconscious on the ground," Sofia reported. "He may still be out there."

She rounded up Vartann with her eyes, and he nodded, raising his gun. With a shared look they bolted, jogging back across the clearing in pursuit.

Grissom's eyes widened in alarm as he watched them go.

"Warrick –"

"I'm on it," he answered, hastily withdrawing his own weapon.

Catherine already had hers drawn, but she hesitated at the end of the shelter, eyes on Sara and clearly torn.

"_Go_," Grissom ordered. "I've got her. Make sure they stay _together_."

There was no time to argue, and she nodded, breaking into a run beside Warrick. Sara watched as in the distance Sofia and Vartann crashed mercilessly into the trees, guns outstretched, ready to shoot.

Sara's attention was brought back to Grissom when his hand settled gently on her shoulder.

"Are you all right?"

Though dizzy and trembling, she mustered what she could of a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Are you hurt? In any pain?"

His eyes raked over her form, checking for any obvious injuries, searching her eyes for any sign of pain. He reached for the camping lantern, flicking it on in one swift movement. Blinding light bathed the shelter. Sara squinted for a moment under its intensity.

"No," she replied. "I – I just blacked out."

"You blacked out?"

She saw deep concern in his eyes, but had no ready answers for him.

"I … don't know what happened," she said, voice shaking. "I just …"

"It's okay," he said gently, sitting down beside her. "Rest a minute."

Grateful, she did. She sat comfortably with his warm arm around her, holding her, his hand every so often rubbing her back. She was still recovering when she heard her colleagues returning from the forest, when Sofia holstered her weapon and gave an indicative shake of the head to Grissom.

"Whoever he was, he's gone," Vartann reported. "Escaped."

"Short of scouring the entire National Park, there's not much more we can do now, in the dark," Warrick added.

"Let's hope he's gone for the night," Catherine said, moving closer and looking concerned. "You okay, Sara?"

"I think she has a concussion," Grissom supplied, before Sara could get a word in. "She doesn't remember a thing."

"I'm fine," Sara clarified. "No harm done."

But Catherine narrowed her eyes, watching her closely.

"You sure? You're shaking like a leaf."

"I'm a little chilled," Sara admitted, "but –"

"I'll get you a jacket," Sofia said, cutting her off.

Sara saw them all exchange significant looks, and puzzled, glanced down at herself to see that she was indeed trembling uncontrollably. She clenched her eyes closed a second, realising suddenly that she felt absolutely freezing. A moment later Sofia returned with a navy blue LVPD windbreaker, and she felt the others help her put it on.

Her cold fingers fumbled with the zip. Warrick reached forward to take over.

"Allow me," he said kindly.

He zipped it all the way up to her neck.

"What do you remember?" he asked. "Anything?"

Despite her trembling, Sara tried to pull herself together.

"We were … lying awake, neither of us could sleep. Sofia had to go to the bathroom, I went with her … I was waiting outside when … when I saw something."

"Saw something," Catherine repeated.

Sara hesitated, wondering herself what it had been. She tried to picture it again, but the form evaded her.

"You called out," Sofia prompted. "You said something was moving."

"It was dark," Sara said. "It was off amongst the trees. It was barest shadow; I could barely see it, and then it was gone. I called out to you, I raised my weapon … and that's all I remember. I woke up on the ground."

"And that's all you remember?" Vartann asked doubtfully. "You can't recall what he looked like?"

"She never said it was a 'him'," Catherine pointed out.

"You said you don't believe in ghosts."

"I don't," Sara said levelly.

"Then what was it?"

Sara felt her temper rise. "You know, I'm _sorry_ that I didn't get a chance to ask for an ID. I've told you all I can. What I do know is that it's out there, we have three people missing, and it's stalking us with all the proficiency of a sociopath."

There was a brief stunned silence.

"It knew _exactly_ where I was," she said. "It knew the second Sofia disappeared inside, and what's more, I don't think it was a coincidence that the second _Catherine_ turned her back this evening, Sofia saw lights. You can quibble about the terminology, but I think we can agree it's hostile."

There was a troubled silence.

"This whole thing creeps me out," Warrick said softly. "I mean, you were armed and it still knocked you down. If Sofia hadn't been there …"

He trailed off.

"You're probably lucky to be alive," Vartann finished.

Sara nodded, the thought unpleasant, but undeniable.

"We're not safe here," she agreed.

Catherine rose, giving Grissom a firm look. "This is getting out of hand. I'm drawing a line. We're CSI, not SWAT. If something's lurking out there, it's out of our hands. We can't compromise the safety of the team."

"I agree," Warrick said.

Grissom nodded. "So do I." He looked to Sofia. "Call it in, tell them we're going to need backup."

"With pleasure," Sofia replied, taking the radio.

She retreated a few steps off.

"We'll leave as soon as we can," Grissom promised.

* * *

><p><em>And maybe they walk out and live happily ever after? Or ... maybe not. We shall see. Anna xo.<em>


	6. Chapter 6

Sitting next to Grissom in the shelter, Sara waited, trying to wrestle control over her jumping nerves. Despite Grissom's promise to leave, and his reassuring hand on her forearm, the sense of unease had only tightened like a cramp in Sara's chest. Only a few feet away the dark woods rested with foreboding stillness. Seconds ago she had been attacked, and despite her colleagues' search, she instinctively doubted their foe had left. As they waited for Sofia to make the call, her eyes slipped again to the trees, every fibre in her body on alert.

They listened in anxious silence as Sofia attempted to raise someone at LVPD control, but received only static in response.

"Must be bad reception," Vartann said, hovering next to her. "Interference from the weather."

He glanced up into the falling rain, squinting against the raindrops. His shoulders were tense, his hand hovering near his hip, barely an inch away from his gun.

"We'll get someone," Sofia said, determined.

She turned away from them, raising the radio again to her mouth. The static continued to buzz in response. She paced slightly, restless as she kept trying.

Watching her, Catherine and Warrick slipped each other a grim look.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Warrick murmured to her.

Catherine briefly touched his arm but said nothing. Their group fell silent again as they watched Sofia and Vartann, but Sara's hopes faded as the calls were met with nothing but broken static. After a period they stopped, Sofia sighing.

"No luck?" Grissom prompted.

The two made their way back. Sofia tossed the radio back on top of their supplies.

"Doesn't look like we're gonna raise anyone through this storm," Vartann said.

"So what do you wanna do?" Sara asked. "Wait?"

"It's over eight hours 'til sunrise," Catherine cut in. "It's too long."

"I agree," Warrick said, still looking unnerved. "It's too risky. If we can't get back-up sent, maybe we should go find it."

"It's a long hike back in the dark," Sara pointed out. "It's well over five miles to the ranger's station, in bad light …"

"That track was steep enough in daylight," Sofia added. "With this rain it'll be a mudslide, if we can see it at all."

"Still beats the alternative," Warrick said. "This thing's already attacked Sara, nearly killed her. We have to assume it's still out there. I don't think going's any more dangerous than staying."

"He could be lurking out there right now," Vartann added, throwing a wary glance to the surrounding trees. "We don't know he isn't armed. He could shoot us down where we stand."

Catherine shot him a look, not in the least grateful for the idea. But Vartann did not back down. He scanned the dark trees behind them like a guard dog.

"You're forgetting Nick," Grissom said calmly. "He's in no shape to hike out. We can't leave him here."

Warrick's eyes crossed to Grissom's still tent, where Nick still lay sleeping. He nodded.

"Then I'll go," he suggested, bracing himself. "It'll be quicker without the gear anyway. I can run most of the way."

"In the dark?" Sofia questioned. "You'll break your neck."

Warrick ignored the statement.

"We should send two," Catherine said. "For safety."

Vartann and Sofia locked eyes, silently discussing the matter.

Sofia nodded, reading his mind. "I'll stay," she volunteered.

Vartann turned to Warrick. "Let's grab our stuff."

It took them no time at all to get ready. Leaving most of their stuff behind, they pulled on extra clothing to defend against the weather, and then gathered up the small things to aid on the trip. Vartann snatched up some spare magazines, clipping them onto his belt, and Warrick double-checked his torch was working, flicking it on and off like a beacon.

Catherine hovered next to them, reaching to help in any way she could. When Warrick finally jammed the torch into his belt and looked to her, she squeezed his arm.

"Take care," she said firmly.

"You too," he returned.

He reached for her and they hugged, pecking each other on the cheek as they parted.

"We'll be quick," he promised. "We'll bring back help, get a medic."

"Just sit tight," Vartann added. "Don't go anywhere. Stay together."

"We'll be fine," Catherine assured, looking more worried about them.

They crossed back to the shelter, to where Sara, Grissom and Sofia were gathered. They stood to say goodbye.

"The track will be dark and slippery," Grissom advised. "Don't take any risks on the way down. Take it slow and steady."

"We'll be fine," Warrick said. "We know the way."

"Be careful," Vartann said. "Stay close."

"We're not going anywhere," Sofia assured, nodding.

Sara hoisted a brave smile. "We'll see you in a bit."

He grasped her shoulder. "See you soon."

And with the parting farewell they watched as the two men left the shelter, heading for the start of the track across the clearing. They walked together, their flashlight beams dim in the stormy night. They kept watching until they were out of sight, disappeared down the lonely track.

It was a moment before anyone spoke.

"Well …" Catherine ventured. "I guess we wait."

"Yeah," Sofia agreed.

She moved to sit down beside Grissom. Sara joined them, feeling suddenly the weight of the forest's silence, the isolated darkness of the clearing. She wondered again what was out there, if the guys were safe.

Grissom suddenly started digging in his pocket, emerging a second later with a pack of playing cards.

"We might as well play a game while we're waiting," he suggested, shuffling.

Sofia and Catherine stared.

"Unless you'd rather sleep," he added pointedly.

Sofia glanced at the tent but then sighed, clearly done with sleeping. She moved to get comfortable, offering Grissom a lopsided smile.

"You just happened to have the cards handy?" Catherine teased. "You know this was a work trip, right?"

"It was a ghost hunt," Grissom corrected. "I was playing the odds."

"Yeah, well, you lost there," Sofia pointed out. "Looks as if we found the thing."

"Or Sara did," Catherine corrected.

Catherine's eyes suddenly landed on her from across the table.

"You okay?" she asked, concerned. "You're quiet."

Sara considered the matter. It was hard to know how she felt. Her head still felt strangely dizzy, her torso still shivering slightly, and she felt a complete, unnerving fear about what had happened. It was hard to tear her eyes away from the dark trees.

"I'll be okay," she said.

Catherine studied her with a knowing gaze, looking as if she knew perfectly well everything that Sara hadn't said.

"We'll get you to a doctor as soon as we can," she promised. "Get you checked out."

"Go lie down if you need to," Grissom said, concerned. "We have things covered. You can rest until they get here."

"I'm not going anywhere," Sara said flatly.

She looked again to the trees. She would not go anywhere where she couldn't see it coming.

"I'll be back in a minute," Catherine said.

She left for their tent, disappearing for a moment before emerging coolly with a black beanie and sleeping bag. She walked around to Sara's side of the table, handed her the beanie, and opened the side zip of the sleeping bag so it fell open into a blanket. She wrapped it around her shoulders, Grissom also reaching to tuck it snug around her.

"Stay warm," she said, then added jokingly, "If you don't stop shivering we may have to put you in there with Grissom."

Blindsided, the visual flashed into Sara's mind. She cleared her throat, reining in a smile just in time. She searched for a retort, but came up blank. Catherine returned to her seat, sharing an amused smile with Sofia.

"She's just testing your mental acuity," Sofia supplied, struggling to keep a straight face. "You took a blow to the head."

"Oh," Sara said, wondering how she had missed that. "Well I wasn't hit _that_ hard."

"In actual fact," Grissom said, "body to body contact has been proved relatively ineffective as a means of treating hypothermia. It's a myth."

"And you know that how?" Sofia asked, laughing.

"I have a wide general knowledge," Grissom said calmly.

"I'll say," Catherine said. She looked to the cards. "So what are we playing?" She gave a coy, teasing smile. "Strip poker?"

"With half of PD and Ecklie on the way?" Sofia joked. "That really would be getting caught with our pants down."

Sara mustered up her sense of humour. "I'm not playing that without alcohol," she said, joining in.

"Well then, better make it poker," Catherine said.

There were nods of agreement.

"Deal us in," she said.

XXX

In the back of Brass' SUV, Sara paused again, needing a moment. Brass' arm had not moved from around her shoulders, and his presence was comforting. But Greg, standing in front of them, looked confused.

"You played poker with _Catherine_?" he asked, as if unable to believe it. "The daughter of a casino mogul? She practically grew up on the strip."

Sara stared coldly. "_That's_ what you got out of that?"

Brass held up his spare hand. "Wait a second, hold up … you're saying –"

"Yeah," Sara said, nodding. She read the fear in his eyes as he pieced together the implications. "That was the last time I saw them alive."

Greg stared. "You mean Warrick? Detective Vartann?"

Sara nodded, filled with dread. "They should have been here hours ago. When they didn't return, and when I ran into you on the track, I knew."

Brass drew in a breath. "Oh God … And you saw no sign of them? Nothing on the way down? No sign they doubled back?"

"They didn't come back," Sara said. "There weren't even any footprints on the track. And it had been raining, they should have been visible."

"Oh, Jesus Christ …"

Brass broke off, pained.

"Okay, you stay right here a minute. I'm gonna go get on the radio, round up some more help. We're gonna have to search this whole place."

He withdrew his arm and made to get up, but Sara stopped him, seizing his sleeve.

"That's um … that's not the worst of it," she said, gulping down a lump of pain.

"There's more?" Greg asked softly.

"A lot," Sara said weakly. "You'd better sit back down."

* * *

><p><em>I wrote this chapter twice, but like this second version better. I got to the end of the chapter the first time only to re-read it and discover that it was actually far too cheerful and upbeat for the story. Was a shame, really, I had a great hypothermia scene layered with humour, now on the cutting room floor for another humour fic one day, perhaps. In any case I like this version. Story-wise it's all coming together now.<em>


	7. Chapter 7

At the campsite, Sara stood at the edge of the clearing, watching the storm rustle its way through the trees. It had worsened in the last half hour, since the guys had left for help. The icy wind gusted through the dark treetops with restless ferocity, silhouetted branches dancing against the stormy sky, and mists of rain periodically blew in against her face. She huddled deep into the borrowed LVPD jacket, struggling to fend off the frozen night.

It had been only a moment before that she had begged a break from the game, and retreated a short distance to think. It had been hard to sit there and play cards, hard to focus on anything but their predicament. And still she felt faint, her shivers refusing to subside.

She sighed; the wait for help was too long.

"Hey."

She turned as Sofia stepped alongside her, her long hair blowing in the wind.

"You doing okay?"

"I'm fine," Sara assured, though it sounded flat.

She glanced over her shoulder at the shelter. Catherine and Grissom had paused playing, Grissom absent-mindedly shuffling the cards. Catherine was smiling, as if the two were sharing a pleasant camping trip instead of the wait of their lives. Sara watched a moment, feeling oddly distant.

"I don't know how they're concentrating," Sofia said softly.

Sara wondered the same thing, but the reason was not hard to find.

"They didn't see anything," she replied.

She caught Sofia's eyes, and in them felt a strong sense of kinship. It was Sofia alone who understood, who had also been scared by something in those trees. It had been only a short time before that she had been lying awake too, bothered by the same niggling fear and unanswered questions.

Sara sighed. She knew she just had to hang in there, to keep it together until the rescue came. But it had been over half an hour, and the trail entrance was still dark and deserted; it would be hours before full backup came.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Sure," Sofia replied.

"What you saw out there, what do you think it was?"

Sofia hesitated – a moment too long. In her eyes Sara spotted the answer.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "Right now, I'm just hoping we don't find out."

Sara nodded. She had a hard time shaking off the same feeling. Despite the minutes passing by since her attack, she felt exposed waiting in full view in the clearing. Their assailant was still out there, and their help was miles away.

Sofia's eyes lingered nervously on the dark woods.

"We'd better get back," Sofia suggested.

Sara moved to turn with her, but stopped as something caught her eye on the ground amongst the trees.

"Sofia –"

She dug for her flashlight and clicked it on, pointing the beam to the spot.

There was an impression in the mud.

"You see that?"

Sofia narrowed her eyes. As they walked toward it, she heard Grissom's shout out, his voice puzzled.

"Sara..?"

Catherine's voice was audible in the distance. "Where are they going?"

Ignoring them, Sara crouched down in the mud, shining her light directly into the impression. She put her fingers to its soft edges, tracing the outline.

"It's a shoe print," she realised.

Sofia shone her torch into the trees, the beam illuminating several more. She followed them a short way in then paused, confused.

"None of us walked in this direction," she said.

Sara nodded. "They're not ours."

XXX

In the dark next to her, Grissom crouched down, examining the print closely. His fingers hovered above the mud, not quite touching, not wanting to contaminate the scene.

"It looks fresh," he said.

A few feet away Catherine stopped next to Sofia, shining her light far into the trees. Her beam did little to penetrate the darkness.

"Looks like a trail," she agreed. "It goes off into the trees."

"Are we sure it's not ours?" Grissom asked.

"Positive," Sara said quickly, having had several minutes to think this over. "When we searched earlier, none of us went in this direction."

"She's right," Catherine agreed.

She looked nervous at the realisation, and eyed their dark surroundings warily.

"It could be your assailant," Grissom said.

He was watching her closely. Sara felt her fear rising just as Sofia interrupted.

"How?" she argued. "That happened nowhere near here. He would've had to dart across the clearing, in full view, and I was out by then."

"The spacing of these prints indicates he was walking," Catherine added. "Not running. Whoever it was, they weren't in a hurry."

"Then it makes no sense," Sara said, thinking hard. "There's no one else it could have been, unless …"

She froze, a thought seizing her. She turned her torch beam to Grissom and Nick's tent. The domed roof fluttered slightly in the cold wind.

"When was the last time we checked on Nick?" she asked.

They stared, turning to search each other's eyes.

Fear seized her, and in an instant she began running, jogging back across the wet grass. Behind her she heard her colleagues follow, Grissom shouting out.

"Nick!"

She flew across the concrete floor of the shelter and into the quiet space of their tents. She ran straight for Nick's, gripping the zip and ripping it up.

"Nick?"

She flew the torch into the tent. She had no idea which bed was Nick's, but they were both deserted. The tent was silent and uninhabited, the detritus of their possessions strewn over the floor. It felt strangely as if no one had been there for quite some time.

"He's not here!" she announced.

Catherine glanced in quickly before turning to cast her eyes over the clearing. She revolved on the spot, eyes wide.

"Nicky!"

There was no answer; the trees rustled wildly around them.

Sofia jogged back from the toilet, having checked it to be sure.

"There's no sign of him," she provided.

Sara turned to Grissom.

"He _was_ there when you woke, right?" she asked.

Grissom looked stunned; his mouth moved without words.

"All I heard was Sofia," he replied. "I …"

He drifted off, and in his soft, scared eyes Sara understood. Roused by Sofia's shouting, he had been too scared for her to even think about Nick. Despite her fear, somewhere deep within her she felt touched. She then tore her thoughts away; it wasn't the time.

"He has to have been gone at least a half hour," Sara realised. "Since we all got up."

Catherine looked alarmed.

"Well assuming those tracks are his, he could be halfway to Vegas by now. He could be long gone."

"We have the trail," Grissom pointed out.

Sara read his expression and felt an immediate stab of fear.

"You can't be serious," she said quickly. "We gave our word we'd wait here. It's not safe."

"Any rescue is still hours away," Catherine said bluntly. "We know he's ill, alone, and if he's in trouble –"

She broke off, but not before Sara caught sight of the terror in her eyes, the fear that Nick was right now alone and hurt, or even dying in those woods. And despite her fear, Sara felt the same pull. Resigned, she reached with shaking fingers for her gun.

There was no choice.

"We'll just take a look," Grissom assured.

They turned to leave, and with a deep breath Sara followed.

XXX

Alone in the night forest, they moved slowly along the trail of prints, tracing the trail downhill. They moved quietly and together, proceeding ever gradually away from camp, until it eventually disappeared out of sight behind them. Sara tried to focus on the prints, staying close to her colleagues, while at the same time keeping a wary eye on their surroundings. In the dead of the night, the rustling forest had never felt more eerie. It was bitterly cold, unknown shadows shifting all around them, and the sound of thunder rumbled regularly overhead.

They had gone over a mile before a particularly loud of crack of thunder exploded above them, and a blinding flash of lightning distracted Sara from the tracks at their feet.

"I think the storm's here," Catherine said, drifting to a stop.

The thunder and lightning sounded again in unison, cracking the air with deafening volume.

"That's close," Sara said, shooting Grissom a pointed look.

"All right, let's stop a minute," Grissom agreed. "Sofia –"

Sofia stopped a short way ahead, where she had been examining the trail. She wandered back to join them.

"We may need to have a re-think," he said.

"Yeah," she agreed. "It's going to pelt down any minute."

"There's no telling how long this trail goes for," Sara said. "It could go on for miles."

"And we're unprepared," Catherine agreed, sighing. "We probably shouldn't go any further without a map, or at least some supplies."

She gazed warily at the track ahead. Grissom looked too; but his face was tight with conflict, with caution and terrified longing in equal measure.

Sara felt it too, but she felt the cold and danger as well. Though she still wore Sofia's LVPD jacket, and Catherine's black beanie, the icy wind had long penetrated through to her body. Her muscles felt heavy and tired. She fought consciously to hide her shivers.

Another flash of lightning cracked violently nearby.

Sofia looked Grissom firmly in the eye. "We have to go back. The best thing we can do for Nick right now is to get help."

"If we go on we're in danger of getting lost ourselves," Catherine agreed.

Grissom continued to gaze at the trail ahead, but then at last offered a solemn nod.

"It just doesn't make sense," he said, confused. "Why would he leave?"

"Nothing up here's making any sense," Sara said, with a finality that ended the conversation.

Why Nick left was a mystery, but one she didn't have the energy to ponder. The fact remained that they were unlikely to find him without help.

As they stood there raindrops began to fall, landing with a plop on the sleeve of Sara's jacket.

"Let's go," Sofia said pointedly.

They turned to leave, but Sara had taken only a step when the subtle sound of a nearby snapping twig hit her ears.

She froze, still.

"What was that?"

She looked to the others, they had also held still. She examined the shadowy landscape carefully, but any out of place movement was hard to detect amongst the restless trees. Shadows shifted everywhere, and she could hear little other than the rustling treetops and deafening thunder.

Catherine appeared to let out a held breath.

"Probably an animal," she speculated.

Sara felt Grissom take her elbow, his fingers firm. "Let's keep going," he said.

But Sara barely turned to move before the noise came again – a sharp nearby _crack_ that catapulted her senses into full alert. Next to her her colleagues froze; Grissom's fingers clamped down on her elbow.

Sara did not dare speak, or even move, but slowly, carefully reached down for her holstered weapon.

Grissom's fingers left her to do the same.

Catherine had hers out, pointing to the forest.

"You see it?" she asked, hushed.

It was then that Sara saw it – a shadow, flitting out of sight far in the distant trees, disappearing before she could set eyes on it.

Fear seized her; not daring to speak she threw a look to Grissom. His gaze was frozen in wonder and confusion.

"I saw it," he whispered.

Sara took a step back, feeling an overwhelming urge to run.

"Let's go –"

But behind her she heard Catherine's voice.

"Sara –"

And she turned, following Catherine's stunned gaze to see a flicker of light hovering in the far distance.

XXX

The light was barely visible. It hovered far off amongst the trees – as far away as Sara could see – and it was little more than a hint of a glow. She stared for several long moments, trying to make it out, yet though the actual source of the light was not visible, the faint glow appeared to drift away from them, silent and eerie, calmly hovering unaffected by the rain or storm.

In an instant Sara knew, but needing to ask anyway she turned to Sofia.

"That's what you saw?"

"Yeah," Sofia breathed.

She glanced behind her, as if checking their escape route.

"What do you think it is?" Catherine asked.

"I don't know," Grissom replied.

Captivated, he shone his light along the trail of wet shoeprints, then back up to the glow.

"It aligns with the trail," he observed.

Catherine stared. She hesitated, mouth open, before calling out.

"NICKY..?"

Silence.

Another wave of thunder and lightning reverberated through the forest. The rain thickened, now dropping heavily onto Sara's jacket.

In the distance the faint glow drifted out of sight over the next rise.

Sara felt the sudden urge to suggest they leave, but the words escaped her.

Grissom voice rang out into the darkness.

"NICK ..?"

He shared a look with Catherine, and the two of them moved. Cautious, they walked forward slowly, guns still outstretched. Swallowing her fear, Sara went after them, Sofia beside her.

They walked in eerie silence through the trees, and up the next hill, until at last they reached the spot where the glow had been. They stood on a rocky rise, where the trees thinned a little before the land dipped into a rocky hollow.

Sara stopped. Another crack of thunder sounded, violent flashes of lightning snapped over the trees ahead. The trees blew and rustled wildly, yet the landscape was dark. There was no light. They were perfectly, terrifyingly alone.

"There's nothing here," she concluded.

Puzzled, she shone her light around. The circular beam drifted over the ground, and she realised something else.

"The tracks have stopped."

She shone her light behind them. There were no tracks for several yards prior, no trail at all …

"This is strange. It's –"

But she did not complete the sentence, and without warning, a gunshot tore through the air.

* * *

><p><em>I finally have this all figured, plot-wise. I'll admit that for the first few chapters i only had a sketchy idea of where this was going, but it's finally all fallen into place. I'm feeling quite excited about it now. I think most of my readers saw Nick's disappearance coming, so I suppose this was no surprise. But I think the adrenalin has stepped up a notch, now, too. Sincere thanks to those who have left feedback to date - you guys keep me going. Hope you keep reading. Anna.<em>


	8. Chapter 8

As the gunshot exploded, Sara heard Grissom shout for their lives.

"GET DOWN!"

Sara hit the wet forest floor with a thud, pressing herself hard into the Earth for protection. Face in the wet soil, she breathed in a few granules of dirt, heart thumping with terror. She held still, listening hard.

Around her the trees rustled, blowing drizzle onto the sides of her face. A thunderbolt cracked deafeningly overhead.

Slowly, covertly, Sara reached for her gun. She gripped it tight, and then dared to lift her head, peeking.

Grissom lay a few feet ahead, pressed into the rocks, his arm clamped over Catherine beside him. Sara strained her eyes in the darkness, but eventually saw their jackets moving, rising and falling as they breathed. They were okay.

She searched next for Sofia, and scanned the stormy landscape for several moments before spotting her crouched behind a nearby tree. Her face was taut as she focused ahead, gun ready.

Sara turned her attention to her own position – exposed in no man's land, midway between any useful cover. She lowered her head, crawling on her elbows over to Sofia. The ground was muddy, the cold soaking through the denim of her jeans.

Sofia looked her quickly up and down.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Sara responded.

She barely dared to speak, and followed Sofia's gaze ahead to the direction on which was focused. There was a rocky outcrop ahead, a dark cluster of trees veiled by the mist of rain.

"I think it came from that direction," Sofia said quietly. "About thirty feet in. There's movement."

Sara examined the trees again, but shook her head, seeing nothing.

"I don't see anything."

But Sofia didn't shift her gaze. Out on the exposed rock, Grissom went to move, lifting his arm as if to get up.

"Don't move," Sofia ordered firmly, spotting him. "Stay very still."

In one swift surge of panic Sara spotted the problem. The rocks on which Grissom and Catherine lay were in full view of their enemy. If they moved even an inch, they were lethally exposed.

"If they get up they're dead," Sara realised.

Breathless, her eyes landed back on Grissom, lying flat on the rock, vulnerable.

"We have to do something," she said.

Sofia looked scared, but after a moment, clenched her gun tight, jaw set. With a quick breath she launched herself to her feet, bursting out onto the rocks.

"LVPD!" Sofia bellowed ahead. "Come out with your hands raised!"

"Las Vegas Police!" Sara echoed, following her.

Feeling nothing but her heart thumping terror through her veins, Sara surged ahead with Sofia, running through the rain into the restless trees beyond. She threw herself into the shadows, violently pointing her gun. But after several moments of crashing through the trees she stopped. The trees were empty, and deathly quiet; they were alone.

The rain hovered like an eerie mist, still and lonely. Sara turned on the spot. The forest felt too calm, too still.

"Where'd they go?" she asked.

Her frozen breath lingered in the air, clouds floating with the mist.

"Sofia?"

Sofia gazed up at the trees, where the dark branches rustled in the wind.

"There's something strange about this place," she whispered.

Sara's eyes lowered to the ground, spotting something, a glint of metal.

"We have a cartridge casing."

She knelt down, reaching into her jeans' pocket for a clean tissue. She picked it up, holding it. Sofia paid her no attention.

"Do you feel it?" she asked.

Sara looked up. Her eyes told her they were alone, and yet she did feel something. It was the strangely still mist, the shadows, the eerie rustle of the trees. She had never felt so completely alone, or so isolated. It felt eerie.

She listened hard, ears tuned to the wind – and then she heard it. It was the faintest of voices, whispers on the tail of the wind, faint like a memory.

"Hear it?" Sofia asked.

Sara nodded.

Hear hammering, she stepped back, feeling an instinctive urge to run. The three missing people flashed into her mind. It was as if the forest itself was rustling with secrets. It was as if the mist was clouding something from view, something all too close by.

Sara felt goosebumps of terror rain up and down her body. Her skin prickled.

"Sofia –"

Sofia gazed upward. "I don't think we're alone."

"Let's go," Sara pleaded.

Sofia nodded vaguely, but didn't move.

The voices grew louder. Was it her imagination or was the mist thickening, gathering around them?

She backed away.

"_Sofia."_

At last Sofia came to. With a look of terror, she moved.

"Let's get the hell out of here," she said quickly.

They bolted – running together back through the trees, up the slippery wet rocks to where Grissom and Catherine were waiting.

"Get up," Sofia ordered quickly, jerking Catherine to her feet. "We have to move."

Sara pulled up Grissom.

"_Hurry_ -" she explained, breathless.

"Did you see the tracks are gone," Grissom said, staring with puzzlement at the muddy slope where the footprints had been.

"Just _go_," Sofia ordered, tugging on them. "_Run_. As fast as you can."

XXX

They ran, hurrying together back through the forest, their footsteps echoing the thunder as they thudded through the landscape. Sofia was in the lead, her long hair bouncing as she led them through the trees, setting a blinding pace. Sara followed until the trees started to blur, when time continued to pass and she felt a stitch tightening in her side. Eventually Sofia slowed, stopping out of breath at the base of a large fallen tree.

In the trees behind them, Sara heard Grissom call out.

"_Sofia_ –"

He caught up, cheeks red, completely out of breath. Next to him Catherine hurried forward.

"You two okay?" she asked.

Sara nodded, her head dizzy and spinning.

"I think so."

Catherine looked to Sofia, but Sofia declined to answer. Breathing hard, she raised a hand, turning away.

"There was something down in that gully," Sara explained, chest heaving with breathlessness. "Something terrifying …"

"What did you see?"

Sara thought about it, but came up with no answer.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I don't know that's the right question to ask."

Catherine looked behind them, but the forest was clear except for the steady fall of rain.

"Well, whatever it was, looks as if maybe we out-ran it."

"Then we got lucky," Grissom said.

He crossed to Sofia, who had a hand over her eyes, shaken.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded –too rapidly.

Grissom laid a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay. Whatever it was, we've left it behind. We're safe."

She let out a held breath. "I won't believe that until we're out of here."

She leaned back against the fallen tree, tucking back her long hair back behind her ear.

"You wanna tell us what you saw?" Catherine asked.

"Not really," Sofia replied, looking as if there was nothing she wanted to explore less. "I just want to get the hell out of here."

She had her arms crossed, and as she stared out at the trees her eyes glistened. Sensing she was close to cracking, Sara went to her side, knowing exactly how she felt.

"What do you think?" she asked Grissom.

He shrugged, confused.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But whatever it was, it moved fast. When it was stalking us, it was silent. A human being would've made more noise. But the gunshot indicates it was human."

"Yeah," Catherine agreed, shrugging. "Ghosts don't shoot, right?"

"Ghosts don't kill," he corrected. "Men do."

"Well I don't know which I prefer here. But whichever it is, it's dangerous."

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Sara asked. "The paranormal?"

Grissom appeared to choose his words carefully. "I think it'd be naïve to assume that we currently understand everything the universe has to offer. In the overall scheme of things the intelligence and knowledge of the human race is still quite limited. I don't think science has yet definitively excluded the possibility."

"You're on the fence," Sara summarised, feeling irritated.

"Do you?" Catherine asked pointedly.

Sara weighed the question. She had a faint memory of being asked the same thing on their hike to camp. Her answer now felt distant, unreachable. She thought of the strange lights, the eerie atmosphere in the hollow, and her own attack at the camp site.

She sighed, knowing it was time to confess.

"I don't think it's human," she said softly.

She looked up into Grissom's eyes, assessing his reaction, but found only acceptance.

"Not human?" Sofia repeated. "Sara, you may believe that – maybe we all do – but do you believe that enough to write it in your report? Are you willing to tell Ecklie that that's what you saw? Or the Sheriff?"

Sara had no answer, a knot of dread forming inside her at the mere thought.

"We'd be laughed out of PD," Sofia finished.

"Well let's leave Ecklie and the rest of management out of it," Grissom said. "For now, this is just between us. What do you believe?"

Sofia looked fed up. "You know what I believe," she said shortly. "I believe the same thing as you and Catherine. And you know why."

She gave them both a firm, pointed look, and suddenly all three of them avoided Sara's eyes. Feeling that she was missing something, Sara gave them a questioning look, but all three of them held silent.

"Then we're in agreement," Grissom replied.

There was a moment of silence.

"We should get moving," Catherine said, glancing up at the weather. "The temperature's dropping by the minute. We need to get back to camp."

They looked around them, each of them scanning the trees with identical confusion. The same thought occurred to Sara.

"Which direction do you think ...?"

Grissom turned on the spot, scanning their surroundings like a boy scout before pointing up a gradual slope.

"I think it's that way," he said.

"Are you sure?" Sofia asked.

"Sure enough," he replied. "Let's go."

XXX

The cold descended, the wintry Nevada night sweeping throughout the forest, chilling the air to near freezing. The cold was bitter against Sara's face, the icy wind chill through her clothing relentless against her skin. She walked hugging herself, trying to keep the warmth in, but it was hopeless. Her fingers were numb inside her sleeves, her legs frozen inside her damp jeans. She shivered beyond control, each one merging into the next, her mind steadily losing track of the conversation around her.

Despite Grissom's confidence, half an hour later camp still evaded them, and the knowledge that they were lost began to sink into Sara's consciousness. Too cold to think, she felt a momentary relief when her colleagues drifted to a stop, taking check of their position.

She leaned against a sheltered tree trunk, trying to focus.

"I certainly don't recall seeing this before," Catherine said, examining an unusual cluster of rocks. "I don't think we came this way."

"You think we're lost?" Sofia queried. She shivered as she stood there, huddled in her coat.

"Temporarily displaced," Grissom said, remaining calm.

"That sounds like lost to me," Sara said.

She glanced around, but recognised none of the landscape. She had nothing useful to help them.

"Well we can't be too far off," Catherine said. "I mean it's gotta be …" she hesitated, before pointing vaguely ahead to their left, "somewhere that direction, right?"

"It _should_ be," Grissom said, though he sounded uncertain.

There was a brief hesitation. Catherine pushed back her wet hair.

"Well we should keep moving nonetheless," she said. "We stay out here much longer they're gonna be fretting about where we are."

"I think we're safer on the move," Sofia agreed.

She glanced warily behind them, as she had been for the entire walk. Despite eventually holstering her gun, she remained on alert.

"Let's just keep going," Sofia resolved.

They seemed agreed, and turned to keep moving. Feeling numb through, Sara followed.

They walked until Sara lost interest, time and events moving past without attention. The minutes blurred, the conversation around her fading as though out of earshot. She hugged herself tighter, willing herself to hold on, determined to stop shivering. Yet the shaking did not stop, and the blustery wind chill was vaguely reminiscent of an industrial freezer.

Eventually, her muscles cold beyond function, she paused. She watched her colleagues disappear ahead, continuing to walk, not noticing she was not with them.

She felt tired. _So tired._

She tried to call out, but her cold voice emerged as a whisper.

"Griss …"

But ahead Grissom disappeared from view.

Tired … so cold …

Numb, she sank to her knees, and alone in the forest, closed her eyes.

She had rest at last.

* * *

><p><em>Sorry - but had to break this chapter somewhere ... will anyone come back for her? will they notice before it's too late? can they help at all? when I started this fic I wasn't intending to have any room for GSR, or any romance at all, but I guess some things change. Sometimes the stories and the characters just write themselves. I suppose we'll see how we go. ;)<em>

_To be honest, still not sure I'm happy with this chapter. I've edited and drafted it so many times trying to get it sit right that I've sent myself half crazy with it. But really looking forward to the next one. Thanks to those who are still reading._


	9. Chapter 9

The forest was quiet as Sara sat there, resting with her eyes half closed. There was a lull in the thunder, and the raindrops dripped down from the high branches with serene calm. She huddled herself together, trying to get warm, just as the sound of returning footsteps jutted through her reverie.

"Where'd she go?"

It was Catherine's voice, and it was followed a moment later by a call from Grissom.

"Sara!"

The word rang throughout the trees. There was a brief pause, then hurried jogging.

"Sara!" Grissom shouted.

She opened her eyes to see them running toward her. Grissom was in the lead as they reached her, his eyes wide. They crowded around.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"What happened?" Sofia added.

"You hurt?" Catherine asked.

She gripped Sara's wrist, pulling her arms away from her torso, looking her over.

"I'm not hurt," Sara assured, pulling her arms back for warmth. "It's just … getting a tad cold …"

"Cold?" Grissom repeated.

He put his hand to her forehead, checking her temperature.

"Sara, you're _hypothermic_."

His hand was followed quickly by Sofia's, whose expression flicked from confusion to alarm.

"She's like _ice_."

"It's the wind chill," Catherine said. "Her clothes are thin. If you're out here on a night like this, not wearing layers …"

She shook her head, trailing off.

"We need to get out of this wind," Grissom ruled firmly. "Find some shelter."

They glanced around them; there was nothing but wet trees.

"Come on," Grissom said, reaching for her. "Just keep walking, we'll help. You'll be fine."

"We'll find somewhere to rest," Catherine promised. "Just hold on."

And arms around her they pulled her to feet.

XXX

They meandered through the trees until they at last arrived in a sheltered hollow, nestled at the base of a rocky cliff. Leafy and quiet, the trees were still, droplets of water glistening on their branches, the scent of rain fresh in the air. Sara let Grissom steer her, following Catherine to where she was crouched at the entrance of a small cave. She shone her torchlight in; the beam glided peacefully over the back wall.

"I think it's the best we're gonna find," Catherine said, sighing.

"It'll do fine," Grissom said. "Anything to get us out of the weather."

"Any port in a storm," Sofia agreed, peering in.

With a hand on Sara's back Grissom urged her inside.

"Watch your head," he added.

The roof was low, at shoulder-height, and Sara had to stoop as she entered. She moved to the rear of the cave, sitting near the rocky wall as her colleagues joined her. All three of them had damp hair, their jackets water-soaked from the rain. Catherine shook some of the raindrops from her coat as she sat down.

Grissom wasted no time, getting straight down to business.

"All right, let's take a look." He passed his torch to Sofia. "Sara, we need to examine you, all right?"

"Sure," she replied.

They wriggled closer. Sofia held the beam of light on Sara's shivering torso while Grissom reached for the zip on her LVPD jacket, tugging it down.

She tried to smile. "You're not gonna take my clothes off?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Catherine and Sofia are both here."

His reply was ambiguous, and she turned it over in her mind, wondering if he had meant it as reassurance, or possibly a hint as to what might happen if they weren't. She pushed the thought from her mind. Maybe she was more hypothermic than she thought, her brain cooled into confusion.

Her jacket fell open, and immediately she felt the chill of the icy night air against her thin black tank top.

She winced, shivering.

"I'm going to check your vitals," Grissom said clearly. "Your pulse and respiration. We'll see how bad it is."

She nodded, her chilled brain trying to keep up with his words.

"Uh-huh," she replied.

His fingers pressed into the pulse at her neck. Sara stared ahead, but found Catherine's eyes honed in on her, focused hard.

"Do me a favour," she said. "Count backwards from a hundred, by sevens."

She smiled through her shivers. "Is this a pop quiz?"

"You took a head injury back at camp," Catherine reminded her. "Indulge us."

Sara took a shaky breath; her brain cells felt frozen together. "Well it's … 100 … then –" she shivered "- 93 … and … 86 … 79 …"

She shivered through several more numbers until Catherine nodded, letting her off.

"You can stop. How long have you been cold?"

Sara tried to think.

"You were shaking at camp," Sofia offered, still holding the light on her.

Sara shook off the memory. She could not bear to think about what had happened at camp.

"It didn't get bad until the gunshot," she replied. "When it started raining."

Catherine's eyes passed over her soaked jacket.

"We should've dressed in something warm before we left," she agreed. "In this weather, your damp clothes, rain, a sub-zero wind, it treats your body like a refrigerator. You can't retain heat."

Faintly, Sara knew she was right, but was too cold to care. She focused back on Grissom as he removed his warm fingers from her pulse.

"Your pulse is slow," he advised. "It's weak in your wrist."

"Must be bad circulation," Sofia concluded.

His fingers moved to hers, pressing and pinching the tips. A second later his attention returned to her torso, watching her chest.

Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Gil?"

He looked up, and catching her expression, averted his eyes.

"Respiration," he explained. "We need to check her breathing."

If she hadn't felt so ill she would have smiled, but accepted instead his hand placed flat against her diaphragm, at the base of her rib cage. He held her with his other arm, keeping her steady as he monitored her breaths.

"Just breathe normally," he coached. "Keep it steady. Don't react."

She tried her best, but her torso wracked by shivers, he soon pulled away.

"Do you have any troubles drawing breath?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "It's just … freezing cold. It's like we took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the Arctic."

He re-zipped her jacket for her, taking it all the way to her neck.

"Sara –"

He took her hands, catching her eyes.

"I think you're in bad shape. Your hypothermia's already gone past mild, if you get any colder your body will the lose the ability to reheat itself. We'll be in trouble."

"We need to get her warm," Catherine said quickly.

They glanced around the cave, but there was nothing to work with. Even their own clothes were wet, their hair dripping.

Sofia stated the obvious. "How? We don't –"

"We'll work with what we have," Grissom said. "We have body heat."

He suggested it without a trace of awkwardness, and catching his eyes Sara registered that she was in trouble. She momentarily closed her own as more shivers wracked her.

"We have to move fast," Catherine said.

There was a sharp whir of a zip as Grissom opened his jacket. He held out a pen and notepad, passing it to Catherine.

"Take these –"

He hurriedly pulled off his boots, removing his thick grey hiking socks.

"Put them on," he guided.

He took her wrists, slipping one thick sock onto each hand like mittens. He rolled them up under her sleeves. They reminded Sara faintly of sock puppets, but they were toasty warm from his feet.

"If we cover as much of your skin as possible it'll minimise the heat loss," he explained.

He pulled her beanie back down from where it had ridden up slightly at the back of her neck.

"Try not to lean against the rocks, or you'll absorb the cold."

He urged her away from the wall, and then sat against it himself. He got comfortable, legs stretched out and jacket open, and then reached for her.

"Come on, we'll get you warm."

He pulled her toward him.

"Don't get shy on us," Catherine said, steering her.

They manoeuvred her into his lap, and Grissom's arms slipped firm around her, pulling her close. Shaking hard, she leant against his chest, curling her legs into his side.

"Let's tuck your shirt in," Catherine added.

Sara felt her fingers reaching under her jacket, tucking her tank top into her jeans. Grissom wrapped his own jacket around her, cocooning her against him.

Sara shivered; she still felt freezing.

"Just relax," Grissom said. "You'll be fine."

"We're all here, Sara," Sofia said. "You'll be okay."

And hoping for the best, Sara closed her eyes.

XXX

Time passed, and the mood settled into anxious monotony. Resting against Grissom's chest, Sara breathed in the scent of his old pullover, trying to stifle her shivers. Grissom held her tight, and against her too she felt Catherine and Sofia – Catherine rubbing her legs, sitting against them, and Sofia with a hand low on her back, offering comfort in her presence. Every so often she felt Catherine's hand slip in to take her pulse, and it was followed by the scratching of a pen as she wrote down the figure. She knew they were monitoring her vital signs, tracking them for any sign of improvement.

For a while she listened to their conversation, their voices soft against the sound of the dripping water outside. She heard Catherine urge her yet again to stay awake.

"You with us?" she asked.

"Wide awake," Sara recited.

She wished vaguely that she wasn't, that it could have been a nightmare from which she could wake up. Yet there was no point in whinging.

She pulled away slightly, needing to readjust her position.

"You all right?" Grissom asked.

"Pins and needles," she explained, wincing as the blood flow returned to her legs.

She shifted position, leaning sideways against him. The change in angle allowed her to see outside, to the night beyond. The storm clouds had dissipated, breaking up to allow through a beam of moonlight. It was just enough that Sara could see her colleagues. Catherine looked strangely pale in the moonlight.

"We've been here a while," Sara realised.

She could tell from how still it was, from the settled puddles on the ground. Her three colleagues also looked quite comfortable, Sofia gazing out at the night in deep thought.

"It's been a few hours," Sofia supplied.

Sara felt surprised, hardly able to believe it hard been that long. Yet her face held no trace of a lie. Sara looked out again into the night, for the first time taking stock of their situation. They were lost – that much was a given. But they had at least had shelter. They were hardly safe, but had at least gained a reprieve. She knew Warrick, Vartann and Nick were unlikely to be as lucky. All three of them would have been caught in the storm, and Nick was still out there. The thought twisted in her stomach.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Grissom asked.

"You'd want a refund," she replied.

"Try me."

She gazed out into the trees, but did not want to lie to him.

"We're lost," she said.

"We'll be okay."

He said it calmly, as if he had long come to terms with it, or that it was the least of his worries.

"If we stay together, we'll be fine," Catherine said, rubbing her knee. "We just have to stick close."

"It's … not us I'm worried about."

Even in the low light she saw something flicker in Catherine's eyes. She knew then that she was not the first one to think about the others, but that Catherine had clung to her strength because she had to, and because she always did. Grissom was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Nick'll be fine," Sofia said bracingly. "He's strong."

Sara held quiet, knowing that if their stalker wanted to kill them, strength would not likely be a factor. And somewhere out there in the wet, Nick was alone.

"Brass'll come for us," Catherine said firmly. "Once we fail to call in, they'll raise the alarm. Every cop and cadet in Vegas will be here."

"We just have to sit tight until they do," Grissom agreed. "Not get into any more trouble."

His arm tightened protectively around her waist, but Sara's mind was elsewhere.

"It still doesn't make sense," she confessed. "Why Nick left."

"It could have been anything," Grissom said. "He was ill – he could have even been sick behind a tree and just ducked away for a moment."

"I doubt it," Catherine said. "I think he was long gone by the time we got up, when Sara was attacked."

"How do you figure?"

"Because if he'd been there, he wouldn't have left."

Her eyes pressed into Sara's, and Sara felt a ripple of unease. She knew what Catherine meant, that if Nick had been at camp when it had happened, he would have been there with her. He would not have ditched them.

She closed her eyes, unable to bear thinking about it.

"You okay?" Sofia asked.

She swallowed. "Yeah."

Catherine eyed her carefully.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Sara knew what she was referring to – those memories she could not bear to even think about. She pushed them away, refusing to acknowledge that they even existed.

"No," she replied.

She said it quickly, and as she heard it wondered if it had been too sharp. She gave Catherine a smile, grateful for her kindness.

"Can we just … talk about something?"

"About what?" Grissom asked.

"Anything."

They looked unsure for a moment, and traded significant looks until Sofia came to her rescue.

"Hey, I have a question – a hypothetical scenario – something I was asked once in college." She gazed thoughtfully out into the moonlit trees. "If you were out here at night, alone with someone, and you had their life in your hands, how far would you go to save it?"

"You mean CPR?" Catherine asked. "I've done it."

"Hypothermia," she clarified. "If you had to climb naked into a sleeping bag with them. Would you do it?"

"You mean would I strip to save a life?" Catherine queried. "It'd depend who it was. If it was someone I cared about, my family, any of you … I wouldn't hesitate. I used to strip for a living, it wouldn't bother me to do it for a friend."

"Would you?" Sara asked, curious.

Sofia shrugged. "I'd keep my underwear on – and my gun close. But if I really had to – then yes."

"And you?" Catherine prompted.

Sara tried to picture it.

"I'd feel uncomfortable," she admitted. "I know it's not sexual, but it's still an intimate gesture, doing that with somebody. But if it was between feeling awkward, and saving a life, I'd do it. I'd do it for anyone on the team."

"Grissom?" Catherine asked.

Grissom looked puzzled, as if he had taken a mis-step and found himself in a conversation he didn't sign up for.

"Two people in a sleeping bag?" he asked. "How do you fit?"

Catherine laughed. "You're not supposed to have personal space. It's about chemistry, heat retention."

He looked utterly perplexed.

"Never mind," Sara said, smiling.

"We'll take that as a yes," Sofia said.

Catherine reached to take Sara's pulse again – talking as she did.

"Okay, my turn. Subject is your first kiss – go."

XXX

In the back of Brass' SUV, Sara laid down the truth of their time in the cave with monotone honesty. It had been a while since Brass had commented, but he listened intently as she drifted to a natural close.

"We sat there for _hours_," she finished. "Just talking, passing the time. Trying not to think about things. It's strange what you learn about people, how close you become. And they held me the whole time. The kept me alive."

Brass nodded sadly, understanding.

"Well I'm glad you had each other," he said. "And I'm glad they took care of you. It's nice to have friends you can count on."

Sara nodded, but did not dare look at him. She sensed his next question brewing, and braced herself for it even as it came.

"How did you get separated?"

She said nothing.

"Sara," he said gently, "where are they?"

* * *

><p><em>The question I suppose everyone's asking. It's actually not too far until the end of Sara's story (which is part one, I guess - Part two will focus on what happens when she finishes talking - and everything thereafter) Just wish I had more time to write the thing! :)<em>


	10. Chapter 10

It was by far the longest night of Sara's life. Had they been in the warm – perhaps at one of their apartments in Las Vegas – a night spent talking and sharing stories would have passed as pleasant. But trapped in the freezing cave, each second passed like a lifetime. Sara remained in Grissom's arms, yet despite their best efforts she felt little warmer. The air was still icy cold, a chilling breeze periodically wafting in, and her entire body was frozen numb. She had lost track of where her legs were; lost and tangled amongst those of her friends.

It was some time after the conversation began to dwindle that Catherine stirred. She moved to shift, and evidently stiff, paused with a hand to the ground, cringing.

"Are you all right?" Grissom asked.

"I think my legs have gone to sleep," she replied. "I need to stretch."

She squeezed Sara's hand, the one that she had been holding for the past hour.

"Will you be okay a minute?"

"Yeah, sure," Sara replied.

Catherine nodded, and moved to leave. Sofia reluctantly untangled herself, still too professional to let anyone go alone.

"I'll come with you –"

"You stay here," Grissom overruled. "I'll go."

He put a staying hand on her shoulder to settle the matter, before moving past to follow Catherine. Sofia gave him an appraising look as he disappeared from sight.

"He's chivalrous," she observed, smiling slightly.

"Yeah," Sara said. "He cares."

"Especially for you."

She looked into Sara's eyes as she said it, as though measuring her response, but blindsided, Sara stared. A moment later Sofia politely returned to the forest outside. Grissom and Catherine had moved a few feet out of sight, but their hushed voices carried into the cave.

Catherine's was soft, as if she did not intend for them to overhear.

"I'm fine. Just cramping up –"

"Walk around a bit. Stretch the muscle –"

Sara heard leaves shuffling as they moved.

Sofia gazed out thoughtfully at the night forest. A slip of moonlight lit some of the wet trees.

"You know," she said, "it's actually quite peaceful up here. If you ignore the cold, the fact that we're lost, it's really not that bad."

Sara followed her gaze out to the trees, but was too cold to feel much affection. She doubted she would ever be warm again.

"I'd give anything for a fire right now."

Sofia turned, and remembering her predicament, reached for her.

"Move closer," she said. "Keep warm."

She hugged her from behind, hands briskly rubbing Sara's arms, trying to stimulate warmth and circulation. Gladly accepting her kindness, Sara felt suddenly guilty for whingeing, and looked back to the trees, trying to meet her halfway.

"It's a shame it's not under other circumstances," she replied. "Where we could enjoy it."

"Yeah, I'm thinking wine, a nice view, maybe a sunset …" She paused. "And Grissom –"

Sara looked quickly over her shoulder, but this time there was no mistaking it. Sofia's face was lit with a knowing smile, and she laughed slightly at Sara's surprise.

"It's … not like that," Sara said awkwardly.

"Not yet," Sofia added, still grinning.

Sara said nothing, a thousand thoughts competing for attention, and each being discarded.

"It's okay," Sofia said. "Your secret's safe with me."

They continued to listen to the night sounds outside. The wind rustled its way through the trees, and not too far away, Sara heard Grissom shout.

"Cath, stay within sight!"

"I'm right here!" she called back. "Besides, I thought you needed a moment!"

"What I need is everyone within sight! Until we know what's lurking out here, it's not worth the risk of wandering off."

It occurred to Sara suddenly that Grissom must be relieving himself, and that possibly this was the reason for his volunteering to accompany Catherine.

However despite his calls, Sara did not hear Catherine returning.

"Cath!"

There was no reply.

"Cath, where are you?"

She heard Grissom swiftly zip himself. Sofia's hands left her as she moved quickly to join him, drawing her gun.

"Stay here," she ordered.

But Sara followed, quickly drawing her own and holding it aloft as she emerged in the forest. Grissom stood on a nearby rise, eyes searching the gully. She ran to his side.

"CATH!" he yelled.

Sara began to frantically scan around just as Catherine suddenly reappeared from behind a cluster of trees.

She looked disturbed.

"We've got a body," she reported.

XXX

The body was so far away that Sara wondered briefly how on Earth Catherine had managed to spot it. It lay deep in the gully, over two hundred feet from the cave, and was of a well preserved young woman who matched exactly her photo that Sara had seen in their briefing at the campsite. Sara crouched down on the wet forest floor, shining her flashlight over the corpse.

"There's no obvious sign of injury," she said. "No visible blood."

She let her torch beam rest on the woman's face. She was white, pale, and her skin glowed eerily in the moonlight. Yet there was something strange about her, something other-worldly, and as Sara realised what it was, she felt terror rise within her.

"She was reported missing at least –"

"Three weeks ago," Sofia finished.

She stood a step behind Sara, looking down at the body with the same uncertain terror that Sara felt.

"She should be decomposed …" Sara said. "Even if she hasn't been dead all that time, if it happened recently, she should still be …"

She let the thought trail off, unnerved.

"She's too perfect," Catherine agreed. Eyes narrowed, she knelt beside Sara, taking a closer look.

Grissom took a stick, using it to move the woman's hair away from her face.

"There's no insect activity," he said, stunned. "This body should be crawling. Even in the initial stages of decomposition this body wouldn't go untouched."

"Not in a forest like this," Catherine agreed.

Sara stared at the body, trying to fight the urge to flee.

"This is wrong," she said.

She shivered hard as the wind picked up, her damp hair blowing in the breeze.

"We should go," Sofia ruled. "We can mark the spot, come back with a team later."

Grissom did not move. He continued to scrutinise the body, having apparently not even heard her.

"_Grissom_," she said firmly.

He looked up, innocent. "We have time."

"Sara doesn't," she corrected. "So unless you'd like two corpses instead of one, I suggest we leave now. This forest isn't safe."

Grissom looked up - just as Sara was shaken by another icy shiver. He pocketed his torch.

"This assignment is under the jurisdiction of PD, not the lab, and I'm pulling rank," Sofia said firmly. "Let's go."

Sara had the distinct impression that Sofia had much more reason than she was letting on, but eager to leave, she stood with her.

"All right," Grissom said. "Let's mark the spot."

He glanced around, but all they had with them was their own damp clothes. He moved to a tree, reaching up to seize a small branch.

"You really expect somebody to find one broken branch in a forest of thousands?" Catherine asked cynically.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"We need something colourful," Sara suggested. "Something bright that'll stand out."

Sara looked down, but all her own clothes were dark and would not suit the purpose.

Catherine sighed. "Here, hold this."

She stripped her coat, handing it to Sara, and then reached up under the back of her top, unhooking her bra. Grissom raised an intrigued eyebrow as she proceeded to remove it, pulling it out a moment later through her sleeve.

Sara smiled to herself at the look on his face, but the moment was brief as Catherine crossed to a nearby tree. The red lace bra gripped in one hand, she hoisted herself up, and was several feet from the ground before she gingerly stopped on a branch. Balancing precariously, she used both her hands to tie the bra to a tree limb, so that it dangled visibly overhead in the clearing.

"Think that's okay?" she asked.

"Perfect," Sara replied.

She tightened the knot, then grimaced down at her hands, covered in damp and spots of dirt.

She sighed, and gripped the trunk as if to climb down, but then abruptly froze. Deathly still, her eyes were locked ahead. She slowly reached back for her weapon.

"Catherine?" Sara prompted.

"What is it?" Sofia echoed.

Sara scanned the trees ahead in that direction, but saw nothing but evermore glistening, night-time forest. She nevertheless slid her gun from her holster, ready.

"Do you see something?" Grissom queried.

He, too, was glancing around, but like Sara came up blank.

"I don't know," Catherine replied.

She stared for a moment longer before shaking her head, confused.

"I thought I saw something move," she explained quietly. "Maybe it was my imagination. Tricks of the mind."

Sara doubted it, and feeling nervous, narrowed her eyes at the surrounding trees. She held her cold gun aloft, half-raised.

"Climb down," Grissom ordered. "Let's go."

She didn't move for a moment, staring ahead, still unsure.

"Catherine, move," Sofia pressed. "Hurry up."

Suddenly something moved; flitting out of sight in Sara's distant field of vision. She snapped up her weapon, rigidly pointing it ahead, heart hammering with déjà vu and panic.

"It's out there!" she called.

Sofia turned, quickly joining her. Eyes and ears peeled, she concentrated ahead.

"I hear something," she confirmed.

Sara listened hard, and thought she heard it – a very faint rustling of leaves. An all too familiar coldness in the air.

She took a step back.

"Catherine –"

"I'm coming," came the reply.

"Hurry up," Grissom echoed.

He, too, sounded scared.

Sara heard Catherine begin to move, just as soon as she stopped again.

"Wait, there's something –"

Sofia yelled over her shoulder. "Move, Catherine!"

"There's something on me!"

Catherine's panicked voice assailed them from above, and Sara glanced back to see her throw a hand down the back of her top, swiping at her skin.

"Just climb down!" Grissom said urgently.

But Catherine emitted a panicked noise as she desperately swiped inside her shirt, and a split second later, she screamed as another gunshot exploded in the air.

XXX

Face-down in the dirt, Sara became aware of several things at once. The first was that the pressure on the back of her shoulder blade was Sofia, having knocked Sara to the ground with her as she dived for cover, and the second was that the forest was deathly silent again. Not a leaf or twig moved.

Overcome with a sense of déjà vu, Sara glanced around quickly at her colleagues. Sofia was beside her, looking warily ahead into the forest, but as Sara looked behind her for Grissom and Catherine, she leapt to her feet with a start.

Catherine was not moving.

She lay limp in Grissom's arms, her head and shoulders in his lap, her eyes closed. Staying low, Sara scrambled toward them.

"Catherine –"

For a second Grissom looked stunned. Eyes wide with panic, his fingers flew to the pulse in her neck, pressing hard. Sara swept her eyes over her, and saw her chest still rising and falling.

"She's breathing," she said quickly.

There was a shuffling of leaves and bracken as Sofia scrambled to join them.

"I don't see any blood," she concluded. "Was she hit?"

"I don't know," Grissom replied. "She fell –"

There was no time to feel awkward. Quickly holstering her gun, Sara moved to check her over, performing the examination as she had been trained to do in the LVPD's mandatory first aid course. She ran her hands firm over Catherine's legs, searching for any blood to pool through the denim, or for any indication of pain from Catherine. But there was none. She remained limp and unconscious.

"I can't see anything," Sara reported.

Grissom held her head steady. _"Catherine?"_

There was no reply.

He caught Sofia's eyes. "Give me a hand –"

With Sofia's help he carefully moved out from under her, and they lowered her gently to the ground. Sara placed Catherine's discarded coat under her head as a pillow.

"Catherine," she said firmly, touching her face. "Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

"Catherine?"

"I can't see any indication of a head injury," Sofia said, searching with her torch beam. "But maybe she injured herself when she fell."

"She could have a neck or a spinal injury …" Sara said.

She drifted off as she felt fear surge within her. Grissom looked stunned, his mouth open slightly, his eyes darting over her with terrified disbelief.

"Brace her," Sofia said, taking control. "Keep her still, don't let her move."

She shed her jacket from her shoulders, her long hair spilling over her thin shirt, and used it to brace Catherine's head and neck, packing it in firm around her to stop her moving. Catherine's head remained limp as Sofia worked, putting up no resistance. Sara felt sick with fear.

Sofia looked up at Grissom.

"Give me your coat," she ordered. "Cover her, keep her warm."

Eyes wide, he obeyed, handing it to her. Sofia spread it over her torso, tucking it in. Sara moved to offer her own – the LVPD windbreaker Sofia had loaned her back at camp – but Sofia swiftly stopped her.

"Keep it on," she ordered.

The order was so firm that Sara did not even think to disobey. Instead she shook off her fear, straining to keep control of her rational mind. In an instant she knew what had to be done.

"We have to get help," she said.

Grissom's scared eyes locked with her own.

"From where?" he challenged.

There was a desperate look in his face that Sara had never seen before, but she had no time to give it space.

"Well one of us will have to go back to camp, and raise help over the radio," she said firmly. "If we wait for Brass to find us …"

She shook her head, terrified for the consequences. She knew that even if she left immediately, the help might still come too late for Catherine.

"We have no time to lose," she said.

Driven to action, she quickly zipped up her jacket all the way, and drew her torch and gun from her belt.

"We have to find camp, find that radio," she went on. "There's no other option."

Grissom looked at her with horrified disbelief.

"You _can't_ go," Grissom countered. "There's a killer out there, he's already attacked you once, there's no telling what he'll do –"

"We can't let Catherine die," she said simply.

"If you go out there alone, it'll _kill_ you," he said.

There was a pause, broken by Sofia.

"Then I'll go with her," she concluded. "Can you manage on your own?"

Her eyes searched his, but Grissom only looked wrong-footed, looking between them all with utter helplessness.

Sofia looked hard into his face. "G_rissom_."

He looked.

"Stay here, watch her breathing and pulse, keep her still. If she goes into arrest, give her CPR. You remember the procedure?"

Sara clutched his arm. "Thirty compressions to two breaths," she reminded him. "You remember?"

He nodded. "I remember."

Sara continued to hold his arm. "It'll be okay. We'll be quick."

At last he nodded again, and drew a deep breath, pulling himself together. He whipped out his gun and torch and stood with them.

"Be as quick as you can and _don't_ let it separate you. Keep close together. Find camp if you can and get Brass and everyone out here ASAP."

Sara nodded. "We will. It'll be okay –"

"We'll be fine," Sofia reiterated.

She moved to share a quick hug with him, and then he turned to Sara. He hugged her firmly, his hand trailing down her face as they parted.

"Take care of each other."

Sara nodded. "We'll be right back."

She took in one last look at Catherine's unconscious form before forcing herself to turn. And sighing deeply, she began walking with Sofia back into the forest.

XXX

They walked largely without speaking, weaving their way side-by-side through the forest undergrowth, Sara feeling more on edge than she ever had in her life. She tried to hold the remnants of her sanity together, to not let herself disintegrate. She forced herself to move forward, knowing she was trembling but helpless to stop it. Beside her Sofia was shaking, visibly jumping at every forest noise.

They were a fair way up the slope when Sofia spoke.

"You scared?"

"Terrified," Sara replied honestly.

She heard her voice trembling, and wondered how much longer she could hold it together. She thought of Grissom all alone, of Catherine's life in the balance, of all the guys missing. She wondered if their foe had any intention of letting any of them out alive.

She feared she already knew the answer.

She felt Sofia slip her hand into hers, and Sara clutched it in return, drawing what strength she could.

"Let's just keep walking," Sofia said.

Sara let her lead. Having been ill on the way down, Sara had not paid any attention to landmarks, and now hoped fervently that Sofia's sharp intelligence would lead them safely back to the camp site. They had gone what Sara estimated to be at least a mile before Sofia drifted to a stop near a fallen tree. She paused, glancing around, shivering in her thin shirt. She wiped at a tear that Sara pretended not to see.

"Do you know which way?" Sara asked.

"I'm not sure," Sofia answered. There was an anxious pause as she turned on the spot. "I think it's further uphill. We were walking down ever since we left camp."

Sara had to trust her judgement. She turned to keep going just as Sofia suddenly seized her wrist.

"Did you hear that?"

Sara froze; senses listening hard. Then she heard it: a distant footstep, crunching faintly in the leaves. She tensed, scanning the darkness, just as she heard another.

She panicked. "Sofia –"

Sofia didn't wait; with a grip on Sara's wrist they bolted. They re-entered the trees as a shot exploded over Sara's head. She ducked, stumbling …

"Run!" Sofia yelled desperately, stopping mid-step to wait for her.

She seized Sara's arm as they fled, crashing wildly through the trees as more shots rang out above their heads. Sara lost track of their direction, running blindly, unable to even see the ground in the darkness, but trusting she wouldn't fall. They stumbled their way further uphill until at last Sofia ducked suddenly behind a broad tree trunk, crouching and reaching for her gun.

Sara instinctively turned off her torch, shielding their position with the darkness.

Several more shots sounded before silence fell. They crouched together in the darkness, their ragged breathing emitting clouds of frozen vapour.

"We have to go," Sara said desperately. "We have to get back for Catherine, for Grissom –"

But Sofia flinched as another gunshot rang out, louder than the rest.

"He's close," she whispered.

Sara did not dare peek. Adrenaline surging, she breathed rapidly, thoughts flying with irrational speed. She thought again of Grissom, of Catherine, of all the guys who had been missing for hours. She felt alone; camp lost and too far away, trapped with Sofia in a nightmare there was little chance they could ever escape.

She did not cry; but the thoughts unravelled, pulling at the threads of her mind until she felt unable to think at all, trying to see a way out and seeing none. They could not survive. She knew now they should have turned around on the track when Nick first fell ill, that in coming at all they had all signed their own death certificates. She would die here, in this forest, with Sofia crouched and crying in front of her, the moonlight glistening on her tear-stained cheeks.

It was too late to say they should never have come.

The footsteps edged closer, eerie yet strangely human.

"What do you think?" Sofia whispered.

Sara had no answer for her. Mutely, she holstered her gun. If it wanted to kill them, then so be it. But she would not die hiding behind a tree, but on her feet.

She stood, and no longer caring, stepped out.

A barrage of gunfire greeted her. Sofia swore.

Recklessly, Sara shouted, yelling up at the trees and desperately into the darkness.

"WE'RE NOT SCARED! WHY DON'T YOU COME OUT AND FACE US!"

Abruptly the gunfire faded to a distant echo. The footsteps stilled, and in their wake came a silence more eerie and terrifying than anything she had heard. Nothing moved, until suddenly she heard a voice, a familiar voice wafting in on the breeze.

"Someone there..?" it called.

Sara paused, not believing it.

"Help me!" it said desperately.

And with a sinking feeling Sara turned, and with it, sacrificed the rest of her sanity. There, in the far, faint distance, was Nick. His white t-shirt glowed in the night, one arm held pained over his abdomen, his gait stumbling and eyes filled with pleading desperation at her. He stretched out a hand toward her just as the gunshots came, hitting him in the back and sending him to the ground with a thud.

"NICK! _NICK_!"

She screamed wildly, thrashing against Sofia's arms holding her back. The gunshots rained down on them like hailstones, and she wrestled to tear the weight off her.

"SARA!"

She felt a bullet fly through her hair, the strands whipped aside in its path.

Suddenly Sofia's blue eyes were looking hard into her own, her grip unescapable.

"RUN, SARA!" she ordered. "I'LL GET HIM, YOU RUN."

Sara thrashed against the weight.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" she bellowed. "RUN AND SAVE CATHERINE!"

And suddenly, as fast as the restraint had come she was free. Sofia hurtled away, running back down the slope directly into the line of fire. As Sara watched, horrified, Sofia raised her weapon and began firing, even as her bullets were responded to at a ratio of ten to one. Head high she ran down into the gunfire, with no vest, and no chance of survival.

Her last words echoed up to her.

"RUN, SARA!" she shouted pleadingly. "MOVE!"

And crying, hysterical, Sara ran.

XXX

In the back of the SUV, Sara stared blankly ahead at the desert landscape as she re-lived the memories. The sunrise was coming, nipping at the edges of the horizon, silhouettes of officers moving through the scrub.

"I stood there and watched Nick die," she confessed softly. "And I watched Sofia commit suicide. She flew back down that hill, into the gunfire, and ordered me to save myself … if she survived, it's …"

She trailed off, a lump in her chest.

She swallowed it down.

"I lost it," she went on. "I panicked, and fled. I ran up that hill, with no idea where I was going, and I don't know how I found camp, but suddenly it was there. It was deserted. I kept running. I ran until you found me."

She paused.

She saw tears in Brass' eyes, though he nodded, face tense. Greg looked stricken.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Brass was quiet for a long moment. At last he took a deep breath.

"Well I refuse to believe they're dead," he said flatly. "I won't believe that til I _see_ it."

He took her elbow, standing with her.

"They're alive," he said firmly. "And you're gonna help me find them."

* * *

><p><em>Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. <em>

_This brings us to the end of Part One of the story. Part Two to follow ... hope someone is perhaps still reading and enjoying this. _


	11. Chapter 11

"Come, walk with me," Brass said.

He gripped her arm as he led her between the squad cars, steering her firmly through the chaos of the growing command post. The number of officers had swollen during the half hour in which Sara had told Brass the story, and they milled around in tense groups, hands on hips, worriedly awaiting instructions. Radios crackled with strained voices, dogs barked, and overhead a helicopter swooped past, blowing a gust of bitterly cold wind through her clothes.

Up ahead, a small huddle was gathered, and Sara recognised several of them. There was Sheriff Atwater, his lined face strained, Conrad Ecklie, who peered at her with concern, and the park ranger who had first briefed Sara and the team on their arrival the day before. It seemed a lifetime ago now.

Brass shouted out to them as he approached.

"Seal off the park! We have a suspect loose, and he's armed and dangerous. I don't want anyone within _twenty_ miles of here unless they're armed and a _cop_."

The Sheriff motioned to an officer behind him, who quickly departed.

The park ranger unfolded a large map over the hood of the car, hurriedly smoothing it down.

"Talk to me," Brass said urgently.

"Well, we have a team at the camp site, but it's deserted save for their gear," Ecklie said. "At the moment they're spiralling outward, searching for them, but so far there's nothing. There's no answer to their calls, and the storm's washed away any hope of finding tracks. We have a search and rescue helicopter up there now and a second on the way, and dog squad's preparing to leave also …"

"Any scent's likely been washed away by the rain," the Sheriff added grimly.

"Send them anyway," Brass said. "At the moment we need to try everything we can. Go check their cars, see if there's anything the dogs can use for their scent. I know Sofia usually keeps a change of clothes stashed in the back for emergencies, maybe the others have something too."

With a swift glance the Sheriff silently dispatched another officer.

"All right, let's take a look," Brass said, examining the map. "Let's see if we can figure this out."

"The number one problem at the moment is the sheer breadth of the search area," the ranger explained. "We have well over two hundred square miles of national park, and if they've been missing since their arrival last night, they could feasibly be just about anywhere. Most of the forest is dense, ability to search from the air is going to be limited, and the shelter is negligible …"

"Not to mention the weather," Ecklie added, throwing a look to the dark sky. "According to the forecast, they're still expecting more rain and another storm front. Things aren't going to improve with sunrise."

"We might end up a few cases of exposure," the Sheriff considered. "We'll keep the ambulance on standby, just in case."

Sara took a breath to restrain herself, as Nick and Catherine flitted again into her mind. She tried to shut the thought off. Panic wouldn't help.

"I'm afraid it's more serious than that," Brass said darkly, but he did not explain, or answer their questioning looks, instead drawing Sara in.

"All right, come in here and take a look. Take a deep breath, look closely, we need you to help us narrow this down."

Sara nodded, steadying herself, and focused down on the map. She recognised it as topographical, the contour lines of the mountain drawn in, getting steadily closer together as it neared the peak.

The ranger pointed with his finger. "This is where we are now," he said slowly. "And this –" he traced a dotted brown line winding its way up the slope, "- is where you hiked up yesterday, before arriving at the camp site _here_."

He traced the track all the way to the camping ground, which was marked by a small black dot.

Sara tried to nod bravely. "Yeah, that's it."

"Try to remember," Brass said kindly. "Help us figure this out. Think back to when you left the camp site last night, when you said you followed those tracks into the forest. Which direction did you go in?"

Sara tried to rewind her mind to that moment. It was hard to remember amongst everything that happened since.

"Uh … we left from the south side," she said, tracing with a finger. "We headed downhill. I'm not sure how far, but it was fairly steep. We kept on in that direction until we reached the rocks, when we –"

She broke off, looking to Brass and hoping he wouldn't make her say it all again. He nodded quickly, understanding, and she saw him pass a discrete look to the others, silently instructing them not to ask.

"You say not far," the Sheriff pressed. "How far's not far? Fifty yards, several miles..?"

Sara tried to remember, but even at the time it had been hazy – thanks to her concussion and shivering.

"It must've been at least twenty minutes," she offered. "But after that, when we ran, we lost track altogether. We were completely lost."

"All right," Brass said, "think ahead to when Catherine got hurt, when you and Sofia left to come for help. Do you remember which direction you walked in? Any clues at all?"

Sara came up blank.

"Were you going uphill or downhill?" he asked.

"It was uphill all the way," Sara answered.

"How was the gradient? Steep or gentle?"

"It varied," Sara replied. She tried to engage her brain, thinking as a scientist, and at last more memories came back. "I remember the moon was upwards to our left. When we stopped at the fallen tree, when I started running, it was behind me. I stayed in that direction all the way back to camp."

"Okay, that's good," Brass said gratefully, "that's helpful. So when you first left camp, you headed south … when you parted from Grissom you must've been going –" he squinted up at the moon "- north-west, and when you parted with Sofia you headed east all the way back to camp."

"Yeah," Sara said, nodding.

She finally felt like they were getting somewhere.

"Okay, that narrows it down," Brass said. He took a pencil from the ranger and began drawing on the map, shading where Sara had indicated. "That's good. Do you remember any landmarks? Anything useful the search team can use?"

"Other than the cave and the fallen tree, there was nothing."

"All right."

Sara glanced up as a raindrop plopped on her hand. A sudden rumble of thunder rolled over the desert.

"What about what they're wearing?" Ecklie asked. "Is it easily visible? Something warm?"

"Catherine and Grissom both have coats," she said, reeling her mind back, "they're both dark, I think grey. Sofia's in short sleeves, I think her top was green. I have no idea what the guys are wearing."

Ecklie looked worried. "Grey clothing and short sleeves …"

The Sheriff ignored him. "This suspect Brass mentioned. The one who's armed. What's he armed with?"

"I can't say for sure, but it sounded like a handgun."

The Sheriff sighed; he looked grim, but seemed to refrain from commenting in front of her.

Brass took out his radio, and a protective look came over his face.

"Look, why don't you go sit with Greg," he suggested kindly.

"Just do it," Sara replied. "It's okay."

She knew full well what he was going to say, that despite his assurances of secrecy over her story, that some parts would nevertheless have to shared if the others stood any chance of survival.

She gave him a level look, and after studying her a second, he raised the radio.

"All units, this is Brass, listen up …"

Sara listened as he succinctly laid down the situation – That Catherine and Grissom were last seen several miles south of the campsite, Catherine unconscious with a suspected injury, and Nick and Sofia were both last seen west of camp, with Nick having sustained possible gunshot wounds and Sofia in grave danger. He mentioned that the location of Warrick and Vartann was unknown, and then issued a grave warning about their suspect still on the loose, that he was armed and dangerous, and no one was to head off into the trees alone.

Sara watched as the expressions on the Sheriff's and Ecklie's faces changed from grim concern to sharpened alarm, and when Brass finished she looked away again, wary of any risk of them asking questions.

"What can I do?" she asked.

"Stay here," he advised. "We need you closeby."

And nodding, Sara resigned herself to the helplessness of a long wait.

XXX

Later, in the dripping morning desert, Brass drew up the collar of his coat, trying to fend off the rain. What there was of the sun had risen nearly three hours ago, giving birth to a miserable overcast day. The puddles at his feet gradually converged into muddy streams, and it was still bitterly cold. He knew the weather made the situation worse – that was fact – and his rampaging concern for the safety of those missing had gradually sunk into a grim foreboding. He tried not to let on, but felt his hopes wither further as another report came in from Detective Vega over the radio.

"… Brass, this is Vega. We're about three miles west of the camp site, I think we've found the fallen tree you mentioned. There's no sign of Stokes or Curtis, but the ground's covered in shell casings and bullets. Looks like 9 millimetre, cop ammo. Must've been one hell of a firefight – but we've missed it. There's no one here but us."

"_Search_ the area," Brass ordered firmly. "Check 'round for them. Remember they may be injured, and unable to respond. Sofia was last seen wearing a green shirt, it may camouflage."

"Right. We'll keep you posted."

He clicked out, leaving Brass to listen to the general background chatter on the channel. He had ordered all in the search party to keep their radios on at all times, and they had been diligent with their reports. After hearing Sara's story he had acted quickly, sending one search team west in pursuit of Nick and Sofia, and the other south to attempt to find Grissom and Catherine. So far they had found no trace of anyone. It was as if the entire team had evaporated without trace.

He gave a grim nod in greeting as Ecklie sidled up to him, squinting under the onslaught of raindrops on his face.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Jaw set, for a moment Brass had no answer.

"I think it's too early for that question," he replied.

Ecklie nodded, his eyes narrowed on the horizon. "We're making arrangements for a relief team. If we don't find anything by this evening we'll bring them in and keep going. We've also had a call from the Feds, the local FBI field office has offered to lend a hand, given that we can't use a civilian search and rescue team."

"Good," Brass said.

Though he generally disliked having to engage in politics with other authorities, he was not above accepting their help if it meant potentially saving lives.

He watched as Ecklie's eyes honed in on Sara, who had retaken her spot sitting on the tray of the SUV. Chained to the command post, she looked miserable and helpless.

"How do you think she's doing?" Ecklie asked.

Brass shrugged. "I think she's hanging in there. She'll be okay if they're okay."

He was glad to see that Greg had not left her side. He sat with her, occasionally touching her arm, company in the silence. An old brown blanket lay draped around her shoulders.

"Did she tell you what happened?" Ecklie queried.

Brass nodded. "Yeah."

Ecklie looked at him, expecting more, but Brass gave nothing.

"Excuse me," he said.

Ducking around him, he made his way toward her, sitting down beside her with a weary sigh. He gazed out for a moment to the horizon, where two helicopters were patrolling the rainy grey skies. She watched them with a distant, morose expression.

"How are you holding up?" he asked quietly.

"It's been hours," she said softly.

"Yeah," he replied, nodding. For a moment the heavy feeling of grim foreboding seeped back in; he quickly fought it off, holding it at bay. "We'll find them," he said firmly. "Don't you worry. They're all strong."

She took a moment, and then, absorbing his words, visibly pulled herself together.

"It's just the waiting," she confessed, shaking her head slowly. "I feel so helpless. I just wish there was something I could do to help."

"You've been a great help already," he replied. "Without you, we wouldn't even know where to start. We'd be running blind. At least now we know where to look."

"They'll be okay," Greg echoed. "They're smart, they're probably holed up somewhere safe, waiting for us."

Brass nodded his agreement. "We just have to keep it together. They'll be fine."

He patted her knee, intending to get up, but was interrupted by a shout from across the way.

"JIM!"

The Sheriff was running toward him.

"We've found Warrick and Vartann," he blurted. "They hiked out onto the highway ten miles from here, flagged down a patrolman. They're on their way."

He said no more, but ran in the opposite direction. Suddenly there was a flurry of movement and Brass shot up with them, Sara running beside him.

A minute later the patrol car sped in, lights flashing, and skidded to a stop in the mud. An officer flew out from the driver's door, ripping open the back.

"GET A DOCTOR!"

Brass ripped open the rear door closest to him, and found Warrick and Vartann both slumped in the back seat, limp with exhaustion and obvious illness. They were soaked to the skin, their dripping wet clothes clinging to their bodies, and shivering hard.

"WE NEED A MEDIC!" he roared.

He reached in for Warrick, who was the closest, and unbuckled his seatbelt, helping him out.

"You all right? Warrick?"

Warrick's eyes half-opened with faint recognition. "Jim …"

Sara's eyes were wide as she quickly reached in beside him.

"Warrick?"

Brass felt the strain in his ageing muscles as they both forcibly pulled Warrick to his feet. They took a side each, supporting him as the paramedics ran forward.

Warrick's brown eyes drifted with exhaustion to Sara.

"Sara …"

"It's okay," she said quickly. "You'll be okay."

"Bring them here!" the paramedic ordered, urging them toward the waiting ambulance.

Brass moved forward with Sara, carrying Warrick's weight between them. Glancing behind, he saw the other officers follow with Vartann.

They helped Warrick into the back of the ambulance, where they lay him down on the bed. Sara knelt beside him, and his weary eyes peered up at her.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she assured, gently stroking his face.

"I'm sorry we got lost," he slurred, eyes half closing. "Took a wrong turn. That track in the dark … we were out there all night …"

"Don't worry about it," Brass said. "The paramedics will take you to hospital, you'll both be okay."

He closed his eyes, as if for a moment feeling the blissful rest of safety, but then they opened again, landing again on Sara.

"Grissom with you?" he asked sleepily. "Catherine?"

"They're still missing," Brass replied.

He did not feel guilty about telling the truth, knowing from long experience that white lies would only make it worse.

"Missing?"

He suddenly looked awake.

"We'll find them," Brass said firmly. "We've got search teams looking."

Warrick put a hand to the mattress, moving to push himself up. "Get me some dry clothes …"

"You're not going anywhere except to hospital," Brass ruled, pushing him back down with a gentle hand to the shoulder. "Don't worry. We've got everything taken care of."

Sara looked earnestly into his eyes. "I'll find them. We won't be far behind you."

And with that she rose, urged by the paramedics to leave. Brass moved to follow, but was stopped by Warrick's fingers on his arm.

"Jim."

He turned.

"You know you've got a suspect up there," he said weakly. "Stalked us at camp, some kind of predator. Didn't get a look at him … but he went for the girls first …"

"I know," Brass assured him. "Sara told me everything. You just relax."

Seeing that Vartann was already drifting off on the next bed, Brass left the ambulance.

"Take them to hospital," he commanded.

The paramedics closed the doors, and the long wait resumed.

XXX

Brass knew from long experience that search and rescue missions were always a game of patience, and the search for the CSIs was no exception. After the abrupt arrival and departure of Warrick and Vartann, things had settled down into an intense wait. Yet amongst the worry, his fear of their state once they did find them, he felt a flicker of hope – the first he had felt all morning. Warrick and Vartann were okay – suffering from obvious exposure, but relatively unharmed. And with the relief of their recovery he felt hope for the others.

He knew Sara felt it too. The recovery of two of her friends had been like an injection of hope into her veins, and she transformed back into her usual self. She stood with Brass, the Sheriff and Ecklie, taking control in the command post, poring over the map with determined focus.

Yet despite the change in mood, they were entering the afternoon before anything further happened, when Sara stood with them listening to Vega report on the status of his search for Nick and Sofia.

"… We've spiralled out in a one mile radius from the site of the gunfire, there's no sign of anyone."

"Are you sure?" Brass asked sharply.

From what Sara had said about Nick's condition, he doubted Nick could have gone far.

Vega sounded irritated. "I'm telling you, Jim, there's no one here but us. Wherever they are, we're completely off track. This is just wasting time."

"Sara said he was _shot_," the Sheriff broke in. "He couldn't have gone far."

"Well, not to disrespect Sara, but is she sure? It was dark, there were bullets flying, and sometimes when you're scared you see things that aren't there."

Ecklie looked hard at Sara. "Sara?"

"How sure are you?" Brass asked her.

Sara looked confused, and shook her head at them. "I'd say positive, except …"

She drifted off, looking suddenly uncertain.

Ecklie picked up his radio. "Vega, this is Conrad Ecklie. Do you see a blood trail, or any evidence of injury?"

"There's no blood," Vega replied, "and we've been over this area a thousand times. Whatever she saw, it wasn't anyone getting shot."

"All right, keep going," the Sheriff ordered. "Circle out."

The call ended, and all eyes landed again on Sara, who still looked confused.

"I was _sure_," she said, shaking her head.

"Well the evidence suggests otherwise," the Sheriff said.

"In this case, being wrong is a good thing," Ecklie said, affording her a sympathetic look. "It's good news."

"Don't worry about it," Brass added. "We can figure out what happened later. For now, if they're not hurt, that's enough."

And the conversation ended.

Brass had turned back to the map when he heard it – a distant male voice calling across the desert.

"JIM..!"

He turned, searching the scrubland, the woodland beyond, but seeing nothing.

Ecklie looked confused. "What was that …?"

"It sounded like someone shouting," Greg said, scanning.

A second shout came, louder than the first, and this one female.

"HELP!"

In a split second Brass recognised it, just as the form came into his distant vision. There were two figures walking weakly through the scrubland, Grissom helping along a faint Catherine.

Heart jolting he broke into a run, as several other officers did the same. He followed Sara dashing through the scrubland toward them.

"GRISSOM!" he shouted.

"ARE YOU OKAY?" Sara added.

As they got nearer, Brass saw they weren't. Grissom was wet and dishevelled, his hair plastered to his head, vacant eyes weakly seeking them out. With one weak arm he held onto Catherine, who looked as if her knees were ready to buckle.

"SHE NEEDS HELP, I –"

Sara rushed to his side, seizing his arm as one of Brass' burly sergeants headed straight for Catherine.

"I've got her," he said, supporting her. "Put your arm around me –"

Catherine looked uncomprehending for a moment, but the sergeant didn't wait. He scooped her up in his arms, and Catherine's head fell weakly against his shoulder. He moved to quickly carry her toward a flock of waiting paramedics.

"Gil?" Brass prompted.

Grissom looked dazed, faint with sheer exhaustion. He stared after Catherine, and then without warning, his knees buckled.

"_Whoa_ –"

Sara gasped as his weight fell sideways onto her, and Brass ducked to help, clamping an arm around Grissom's waist as he collapsed to the ground.

"You okay?" Brass pressed, flicking his eyes over his shoulder for some paramedics. "Gil?"

He felt for a pulse, but it was strong.

"It's okay," Sara soothed, holding him. "It's all right …"

With a distant expression he looked at her, and then his eyes at last seemed to focus, registering who she was.

"Thank God you're all right," he said.

And gripping her tight – a handful of Sara's shirt scrunched in his hand – he closed his eyes.

XXX

Three hours later, when the darkening grey skies let loose a haze of drizzle, Sara was still at the command post. She did not regret for a second her decision to not follow Grissom to the hospital, as incredibly hard as the decision had been. She had wanted to go, to climb in with him and Catherine into the back of the ambulance, but the thought of Nick and Sofia had stopped her. The fact that they were both still missing gnawed painfully at her, and despite her desire to go with Grissom, she knew she could not leave until they were located. She knew that if the roles had been reversed, Nick would never have abandoned her, and she felt equally as determined to see the entire team safely out of the forest. Right now, Nick and Sofia needed her more.

With that in mind she had gently detached Grissom's hand from her shirt, and squeezed it tight, promising that she would follow as soon as she could. And she had stood back with Brass and watched both her colleagues be taken away in the ambulance. Logically, she knew there would have been little she could do, even if she had followed. The nurses and doctors would whisk them away for examination, would in all likelihood take Catherine for an MRI, and it would probably be hours before they were in any shape to be reunited.

No, she had stayed, and she felt within her a steely determination to find Nick and Sofia, to not let them down. Yet it had been ten hours since she herself had emerged from the forest and collapsed into Brass' arms, and with each hour the strain and risks intensified. Warrick, Vartann, Grissom and Catherine had all emerged ill – sick with exposure and exhaustion – and it didn't bode well for her two remaining colleagues still stuck in the weather. She was reminded again that Sofia was only wearing a thin top, and regretted now that she had let her surrender her jacket.

When they found her, she would be in bad shape.

That thought in her mind, she had paced relentlessly, ears tuned to the radio frequency, desperate for any word. It had been another three long hours before it came – when the torture abruptly ended.

"Sheriff, this is search and rescue, come in …"

She heard the noise of the chopper blades over the radio, the sound of the helicopter hovering. Sara turned, on edge.

"Go ahead," the Sheriff said quickly, "we're listening."

"I think we have something here. We're an estimated six miles west of your camp site, we can see two people below, a man and a woman, they fit your description."

"Roger that," Brass said. "Are they injured? Are you in a position to recover them?"

Sara gripped the edge of the car, praying hard.

"They look weak but conscious, no obvious sign of injury. We're going to lower someone down to take a look, let's pray the wind holds off."

They waited – several minutes passing with gruelling torture – until word at last came through.

"Sheriff, identities are confirmed, they're both suffering from moderate to severe hypothermia, we're taking them on board now, en route to Desert Palm."

"Any sign of any wounds?" Brass asked. "Any blood?"

If the rescuer found the question strange, he did not show it.

"That's negative, no wounds. We'll see you at the hospital."

With those words they clicked out. Sara instinctively looked up toward the dark, rain-hazed hills, but there was nothing to see. The helicopter was too distant to be within view.

"They're all right," Greg said, sounding relieved. His eyes – so wide and jumpy all day – relaxed. "Nick's not hurt."

Sara felt a painful knot within her unravel itself. She felt confused, but now on her feet for nearly thirty-six hours, was too exhausted to care. She nodded, lost for words.

"You go on to the hospital," Ecklie said quietly to Brass. "Get her checked out, collect their statements. We'll stay to finish up with the scene."

Brass nodded his thanks, and then Sara felt him take her under his arm once again, leading her away.

"Come on," he said kindly, "Let's go."

XXX

It was nearing nightfall when Sara finally arrived with Brass and Greg at the Desert Palm Hospital. Exhausted and weary from the day's events – and far too tired to care – she did not argue as Brass took control, sitting her down on a soft seat in the emergency room while he collared a nurse for a hushed conversation across the room. Sara sat with her head in her hands, the noises around her blurring into obscurity, until at last a nurse approached, leaning down to talk kindly to her like a child.

"Hello, Sara?"

Sara forced herself to look up.

"My name's Mandy, I'm one of the trauma nurses here at the hospital. If you'd like to come with me, we'll just get you settled and get a doctor to take a look at you, okay?"

Sara nodded, and stood to go with the nurse as she was led through the double doors and into the maze of trauma rooms. The nurse led her into a private examination room, drawing the curtain part way around the bed.

"How are you feeling?" the nurse asked kindly. "Are you in any pain?"

Sara sat on the mattress; she felt dizzy with exhaustion, ready to fall asleep on the spot.

"I just feel tired," she confessed.

The nurse nodded, but watched her carefully. "You're trembling a little. Do you feel cold at all?"

Sara did not register that she was trembling, and had no answer.

"I'm just going to have someone fetch you a warm blanket, and then I'll get the doctor," she said, not disputing Sara's silence. "Would you like your friends to wait with you?"

Sara nodded. The nurse left, disappearing back into the labyrinth outside.

She sensed Brass and Greg peer around the curtain.

"Hey," Brass said warmly, his strong hand on her shoulder, "it's okay. You can relax now. You did a great job."

Greg did not say anything, looking as if he had no idea what to offer.

"You want to take your shoes off?" Brass suggested. "Lie down a bit?"

"Yeah," she replied weakly.

She was dredging up the energy to move, but Greg crouched down, doing it for her. He unthreaded the laces on her hiking boots, setting them on the floor, and then moved behind her to adjust the pillow.

"Can we get you anything?" Greg asked. "Anyone you want us to call?"

Sara sank gratefully into the pillows.

"Just take care of the others," she said sleepily. "Make sure they're okay."

"They're fine," Brass replied. "They're being taken care of. Don't you worry about anything, it's all under control."

She felt herself drifting, the noises of the hospital getting further away.

"It's over, Sara," Greg said warmly. "It's all over."

And surrendering, Sara closed her eyes.

* * *

><p><em>So Sara's okay, and everyone is alive. Now to the question of what actually happened, and unravelling the mystery.<em>

_Sincere thanks to those who left feedback on the last chapter. I did worry I'd be in trouble for the ridiculously long delay in posting that - so thanks. Kind words keep me going. _


	12. Chapter 12

When Sara woke, she felt disoriented. She lay on her side in a warm bed, every fibre of her body comatose with exhaustion, yet the noises were foreign. There was a steady beeping of a heart monitor, and the faintest of whispers down a hallway. A plastic IV drip jutted out from the back of her left hand.

She grimaced. _Hospital._

Waking further, she opened her eyes. The room was dim, barely lit by a few stray rays of light entering from the corridor. She lay in the first bed, draped with warm blankets, several cords and wires snaking their way under the covers.

She winced as she turned; everything felt sore, her head fuzzy.

"Sara?" a voice whispered. "You awake?"

Sara fought the fog in her brain, and then recognised the voice.

"Catherine?"

She heard a rustle of blankets being pushed back, then quiet footsteps crossing the gulf between the beds. Catherine appeared in Sara's vision, wearing blue satin pyjamas and thick socks, an IV drip taped into her hand. She wheeled the stand alongside her as she approached Sara's bedside.

Sara's memories flooded back with painful clarity.

"Are you okay?" she asked anxiously.

"I'm fine," Catherine replied quickly.

Sara knew she was telling the truth. She looked wide awake, and showed no trace of ill health. She looked down at Sara with undisguised concern.

"How about you?" she asked. "How do you feel?"

Sara felt exhausted; her muscles so heavy and weary she doubted she had any energy to move.

She shook her head slightly, not up for answering.

"I'll get you a nurse," Catherine said.

She left, leaving Sara alone for several moments before returning with a nurse in tow. The nurse crossed to Sara's side, looking down at her with professional concern.

"Hello Sara, my name's Martine, I'm one of the trauma nurses looking after you tonight. How are you feeling?"

Sara saw Catherine retreat discretely back to bed, and tried slowly to sit up. Her body felt heavy, weighing twice as much as normal.

"I think I'm okay," Sara replied cautiously, doing a quick mental status check. "Just a bit tired, actually …"

"Well it's okay to be tired," the nurse said kindly. "That's normal. Especially considering what you've been through, the day you had. You were exhausted when they brought you in."

The nurse had a friendly face, but as she spoke Sara felt her eyes observing her closely.

"Do you remember much?" she queried. "From your arrival?"

"Yeah," Sara said, nodding. "I was brought in by friends." She struggled to turn her mind back, and remembered collapsing on the bed, the warmth of a heated blanket being tucked in around her. "I think the nurse said I was trembling."

"You were admitted with hypothermia," the nurse replied. "We took off your damp clothes and rewarmed you; you slept through most of it. It wasn't as bad as it could've been, but it's probably a good thing they brought you in. You were out there a little too long."

Sara glanced down at the loose hospital gown she was wearing, but felt grateful for the layers of warm blankets.

"The good news is your MRI came up clear," the nurse went on. "We were told you might have a concussion, but there was no evidence of any head trauma that we could identify. I'm sure that's a relief."

She smiled kindly, but Sara said nothing, trying to sort through the avalanche of information.

"What time is it?" she asked, peering around.

"It's a little after five in the morning."

"And the others, have you heard –"

"They're all okay," the nurse interrupted, putting a soothing hand to Sara's shoulder. "They're all still here – we've kept them overnight for observation – but they're fine. Right now, they're sleeping it off. Getting some much needed rest."

Sara sank back into the pillows with exhausted relief. "Thank God."

The nurse took out her blood pressure monitor.

"Don't worry," she repeated. "It'll all be fine. But why don't we just check on you for the moment, and see how you're doing. All right?"

Sara consented, and submitted herself mutely to the examination. Thoughts crammed into her mind, increasing her headache, but through them all she felt relief. Grissom, Sofia, Nick … they were all okay. She complied as the nurse took her blood pressure, and then rolled on her side as she drew the curtain and lifted the blankets to check her temperature. When she was done, and the thermometer was removed from her nether regions, the nurse escorted her to the toilet, and then back to bed where Sara drew the blankets back up around her, already missing the cosy warmth.

"Stay tucked in," the nurse said kindly, "and try to just take it easy for a little while. The doctor will be around shortly to check on you, and in an hour or two, when everyone's awake, we'll see about taking you to see your friends."

"Thank you," Sara said sincerely.

"I'll be just outside. I'll leave you two to rest."

She left. Sara glanced over to Catherine, and saw her sitting on the edge of her mattress, looking strangely solemn.

"You okay?" she asked gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

But she did not look up. Her shoulders were hunched slightly, and she looked mentally worn out. Sara immediately wondered what her night had been like, if she had laid awake all alone in the darkness, staring at the ceiling, and not knowing if anyone else was okay. She felt a tug of sympathy.

"We don't have to talk about it," Sara offered quietly. "If you'd rather not, if you don't feel ready, that's okay."

Catherine said nothing.

"Right now, the only thing that matters is that we're all okay – that you're all right."

It took a moment for her words to sink in, but then she at last looked up, and smiled weakly, her eyes shining with gratitude.

"I'm okay," she said, drawing herself up and walking over. "I mean I wasn't – but I am now."

She sat down on the mattress beside Sara.

"We had a rough time in the forest. I woke to find you gone, that you'd left for help, and I wasn't feeling well. Grissom did what he could, sat with me until I got my bearings, but …"

She shook her head, embarrassed.

"… He'll probably tell you I was hysterical."

Sara said nothing, understanding.

"After that, we waited. But time passed and no one came. We knew then you had to be in trouble. So Grissom forced me to my feet, we hiked a few miles to a vantage point, and eventually saw the police lights flashing down in the valley. We marked the direction and set after them. It took a long time – but you know the rest."

Sara still felt confused.

"But … you are okay?" she asked.

Catherine shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know what happened. I must've got knocked out, maybe a concussion – I certainly felt winded when I woke. But it cleared. Mostly I felt terrified for you guys. I knew you were still out there. I was glad when I heard you'd finally arrived."

"I couldn't leave until we had everyone," Sara confessed. "I had to get you all out."

"Well I'm glad you did," Catherine replied. A grave look passed over her face. "You know Sofia was in trouble. She was in bad shape when they brought her in. They had her in the ICU for a while."

Fear gripped Sara.

"She's okay," Catherine added quickly. "I mean, I haven't seen her, but we've heard. She had severe hypothermia, but they got it in time. She was lucky."

"Have you seen the others?" Sara asked.

"Just Lou and Warrick," Catherine replied. "They're in a room up the hall, kicking themselves over the fact that they got lost, but otherwise fine. The hospital kept us all overnight for observation, put us in rooms together, given what happened. There's a counsellor doing the rounds. They'll probably release us all together in a few hours' time."

Sara was not surprised to hear of the counsellor, nor of the hospital's initiative in keeping them together. After the traumatic events of their night in the forest, it would have been natural for the hospital staff to keep them together to help in warding off any psychological trauma.

She could not bear to think about that yet, and pushed the thought aside.

"I did see Sofia's mom rush in last night; she was pacing the corridors, understandably scared, demanding answers. I saw Brass and Greg briefly – they stuck around until we were given the all clear. But I haven't been questioned yet."

"We will be," Sara said confidently, but with her words she felt the weight of dread.

"Yeah," Catherine echoed, "we will be."

Her eyes lingered on Sara, and Sara recognised in them a carefully restrained curiosity. She knew she wanted to ask, but wouldn't, and for that Sara felt eternally grateful.

"Get some rest," Catherine finished kindly. "They'll be here soon enough."

And she retreated back to her own bed, to seize the last hour of rest before the cavalry arrived. Sara closed her eyes; it was going to be a long day.

XXX

In the end Sara had little rest. She had barely closed her eyes when she was visited by the doctor, and then the hospital psychologist. She endured the psychologist's visit with respectful silence, evading his questions, giving little away. Breakfast came soon after, and they were both finishing off their toast when the nurse came back in.

"How do you feel?" she asked politely. "Ready for a visitor?"

Sara looked up, wary as to who she had in mind. But the nurse smiled over her shoulder, inviting someone in, and a moment later Grissom appeared. He wore a baggy white hospital gown, and his worried eyes flew over both of them with concern.

"Hi," he said simply.

Sara quickly pushed back the breakfast tray and blankets, but Catherine reached him first.

"Gil," she said, relieved.

They hugged warmly, Grissom holding her tight for a moment before releasing her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"We're fine," Catherine replied. "We're both okay."

He turned to Sara, drawing her into his arms. She hugged him firmly, feeling relief flood through her that he was okay. He kissed her on the cheek as they parted, just as she saw Nick, Warrick and Vartann enter behind him.

Nick grinned. "Hey, where's my kiss?" he complained. "Do I get one?"

Grissom raised an eyebrow, but Catherine stepped around him, smiling widely.

"It's good to see you, Nicky."

The two hugged tight.

"How are you?" Catherine asked. "You okay?"

"I'm okay," Nick said, smiling. "I'm good. I mean, this gown's a little airy, but other than that …"

Sara grinned as she hugged him.

"Personally, I think better a hospital gown than a body bag," she said, smiling.

"Well…" Nick said, "Amen to that, I guess."

Sara hugged her way through the team, warmly greeting Vartann and Warrick before stepping back, feeling suddenly the absence of their last member.

"Is Sofia coming?" Catherine asked, realising the same thing.

"I saw her up the corridor with her mother," Warrick answered. "I think she's on her way."

Their question was answered as a moment later Sofia drifted into sight just outside the doorway, walking with her mother's arm around her shoulders. Like the rest of them she wore a flimsy hospital gown, and her long hair was slightly ruffled from sleep, but she looked relatively unharmed. They paused outside the door, as Dianne Curtis turned to her.

"I won't come in," she said discretely. "You go inside, talk to them, I'll duck over to your place and be back with some fresh clothes."

Sofia thanked her, and after a hug the two parted. Sofia stepped into the doorway.

"Hey," she greeted, smiling.

"Hey," Grissom returned.

He stepped forward to hug her.

"How are you doing? You okay? We heard you were in the ICU …"

"Half the night," she confirmed, accepting his hug. "I had a very unhealthy dose of hypothermia, but I'm okay now. Needless to say that if they stick that thermometer up my behind one more time I think I'm gonna arrest somebody."

Sara grinned. "I know what you mean. You think we live in the modern world."

"Well count yourself lucky," Catherine said, hugging her. "They took mine vaginally."

Sofia raised an eyebrow, amused.

"You know research tells us that taking a person's temperature via the rectum or vagina still yields the best measure of core body temperature," Grissom offered. "Taking it orally is nowhere near as accurate – especially in cases of hypothermia."

"I know the science," Sofia replied. "Not that that made it any more comfortable."

She smiled as she hugged Warrick and Vartann, and then turned to Nick. Nick looked oddly serious, and stared at her in relieved disbelief.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he said earnestly.

"So am I," she returned.

They looked deeply into each other, sharing something, and Sara sensed the trauma of the night they had endured together pass between them. Wanting to allow them a moment, she turned to the others.

"Let's sit down, shall we?"

They went back to Sara's bed, sliding over spare chairs, pretending to ignore them. Sara saw Catherine steal a worried glance, and looking herself, Sara saw the two hug tight. When they parted they approached the bed, Nick with his arm around her.

"You sure you're warm enough in that?" he asked her, indicating her hospital gown. "You want a blanket or something?"

He glanced around, but Sara held up the edge of the bed covers, moving to slide over.

"Jump in," she invited.

Sofia did, thanking her, and a moment later they were all settled.

Warrick spoke first, looking hesitant. "So … are we gonna talk about this?" he asked quietly. "About what happened up there?"

"No one needs to say anything," Grissom said firmly. "No one needs to talk before they're ready, and in their own good time. We all had a rough time – I don't want anyone to feel pressured."

Sara felt grateful, but knew also it was pipe dream.

"We have no choice," she said sadly. "This is a police case, you know we need to give statements, there's procedures …"

"Exactly," Nick said, agreeing. "You know Brass is out there right now, just up the hall. If I know them they're gonna take us straight into PD, question us separately, press for every little detail …"

"Well maybe it's for the best," Vartann suggested. "Get it out the way."

"I have nothing against talking between ourselves," Sofia said honestly. "But if we say too much now, before we've given our statements, we run the risk that it'll cloud our account. We can't do that."

"I agree," Sara said.

"So do I," Catherine added.

"All right," Grissom said. "Then we'll go down the station, tell them what happened while it's still fresh in our minds, and talk later."

Catherine nodded. "All right, then."

"But –" Warrick looked puzzled. "They already know what happened, right? I mean, Sara, didn't you give a statement already?"

He looked at her from across the bed.

"I haven't given a statement," Sara said evenly. "I had a private conversation with Brass, just between friends, but it was off the record."

"But you did tell him everything?" Vartann probed. "All you knew?"

Sara hesitated, feeling suddenly under pressure.

Grissom's penetrating eyes studied her. "You told him the truth, didn't you?"

"Yes," Sara replied crisply. "I did."

XXX

It was not long later that Brass arrived, and the group were forced to split up to get dressed. Promising to meet them out front in ten minutes, Sara pulled the curtain around her bed, ducked into her bedside cabinet to retrieve her clothes, and then stood to get dressed. She reached for the hem of her gown just as she saw a shadow behind her, and turned startled to see Grissom standing there. He looked contemplative, his fingertips together as though searching for words.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He said nothing.

"Did you come to give me a hand?"

She smiled, joking, but he did not return it.

"I just wanted to make sure you're all right," he said honestly.

She saw in his eyes that he was sincere, and felt deeply touched.

"You know, I think I've been asked that about a hundred times in the last hour, but I'm really okay," she replied. "Thanks for asking."

He stepped closer. "You know you can tell us if you aren't? We can help."

"I'm fine," she said, truthfully.

He studied her a minute, but then nodded.

"Good," he said. "Then … I'll meet you outside?"

She smiled. "I'll be right there."

He left, and feeling mentally exhausted, Sara reached for her clothes. Telling Brass what had happened had been hard enough, but telling Ecklie and PD officials … Sara sighed. It was going to be a long day.


	13. Chapter 13

Sara had little reprieve before the investigation began. She was escorted to her apartment by one of Brass' officers for a quick change of clothes, before being driven straight to PD headquarters. She found the team gathered in a quiet staff lounge just off from the interview rooms, and fetched herself a coffee from the kitchenette along the far wall before joining them on the low black seats. They had no time to talk however as Brass entered, carrying a thick file and shutting the door with a quiet click behind him.

He moved to take a seat beside Catherine, sighing heavily.

"We ready to go?" Vartann asked, looking eager to get it done with.

"Almost," Brass replied. "The interview room's all set up, Ecklie's down there ready, we'll be getting underway shortly. I just wanted a word with you all first, just to brief you on the situation."

"Of course," Grissom said evenly. "Go right ahead."

"All right." Brass took a deep breath. "Well I'm not gonna beat around the bush here, okay, I'm gonna get straight to the point. All of you here are experienced, you know the drill. What's going to happen is this: we're going to take each of you, one at a time, to record your statements. You'll be asked to walk us through the events of that night, all the way from the moment of your arrival at the ranger's station, to the time you were taken to hospital. Now I don't need to remind you of the seriousness of this case. But what it does mean is that we need every detail. Even if it hurts. When you're done, you can take it easy – the rest of the day's yours. We recommend you go home, get some rest, take some time, whatever you need to do. Our primary concern is your welfare. You know also we have counselling services available, they're there to be utilised, if needed. We're all here to support you, okay?"

"What about the case?" Catherine asked.

"It's in good hands," Brass replied. "We've had teams out there around the clock, searching for evidence, recovering what they can. As soon as they're done and it's cleared, we'll have your personal possessions back to you. The investigation itself has been handed to me."

Sara nodded mutely; she felt a rush of pity for what he might find.

"Good luck," she said.

He looked at her, not quite knowing how to take her statement.

"We'll be ready in a minute," Grissom covered.

"Okay," he replied.

He rose and left. Feeling suddenly restless, Sara hastily downed the rest of her coffee, and rose to return the mug to the sink. She lingered there a moment, bracing herself.

"All right," Grissom said firmly, "we only have a minute, so let's make this quick. Let's huddle up."

Sara heard sounds of movement behind her as people put down mugs and wandered back to the group.

"Sara, get in here, come on –"

She reluctantly turned, and saw that Grissom had drawn the group into a sports huddle, their arms loosely around each other. He held out his free arm for her, and she took her place between him and Nick, sliding her arms around them, and feeling them both embrace her in return. The gesture felt oddly comforting.

"A quick word before this starts," Grissom said, "because if Ecklie's in there, with the Sheriff on his back, this might not be pretty. So I want you to pay close attention to what I'm about to say. No one can deny this is an unusual situation, and it's confusing to say the least. But all we need to do is be honest. Don't worry about who's in the room, don't worry about how it looks, or whether it makes sense, just lay down the facts exactly as you remember them. You don't have to be concerned with giving it meaning, or trying to riddle it out. The purpose of your statement, as a witness, isn't to provide the answers. Just stick to the facts, and lay it down straight. What they do with that information, how they interpret it, isn't our concern. We just need to tell the truth, give an honest account, and if we all do the same, we can't go wrong."

"You're talking about a united front," Warrick said.

"Exactly. If we stick together, take care of each other, we'll be fine."

There were nods of agreement all around.

"All right?" Grissom pressed.

"Gotcha," Catherine replied.

Nick gave a determined nod. "Let's go."

"Good," Grissom replied.

They dropped their arms. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"So … who's first?" Vartann asked.

"I'll go," Sara volunteered.

She felt the flutterings of nervousness in her chest, but knew she could not possibly endure several hours' wait. She met their grim expressions with determination.

"I have to get this over with before I lose my nerve," she said honestly. "Besides – I've already broken the ice with Brass. This way, it should make it easier."

They did not argue.

"We'll wait here for you," Grissom said kindly.

She forced a smile. "I'll be right back."

She felt the group all touch her shoulders and back as she passed, offering encouragement.

"Stay strong," Catherine offered.

And drawing a deep breath, Sara headed for the door.

XXX

In the small interrogation room, Sara sat opposite Brass and Ecklie, pausing as they digested the part of her statement. The table was bare except for a recorder set down at the centre, and a brand new notepad on which Ecklie periodically wrote notes. For the first part of her story Brass had listened intently, but already Ecklie appeared puzzled.

"So let me get this straight," Ecklie said, scanning the page in front of him. "You say you divided into pairs to take an initial look at the forest, but that only a short way into your walk, you and Grissom heard Catherine shouting that she had lost Detective Curtis. You ran to her aid, at which time you located Detective Curtis in a nearby gully, who told you that she had seen a hovering light."

"That's correct," Sara replied.

She could not begrudge him his puzzled expression, only too well aware of how strange she had thought it herself at the time. She patiently waited it out.

"Very well," he said at last. "Why did you not search the surrounding area?"

"It wasn't safe," Sara replied honestly. "It was dark, we were ill-equipped, and it was pelting rain. Sofia was shaken, we made the decision to walk her back to camp, where we reunited with everyone and told them what happened."

"How did Sofia describe what she saw?" Brass probed.

Sara took a breath, struggling to think back. "She said it was a light, a glow, hovering about thirty feet away. She was sure it wasn't a beam, but she couldn't identify what it was."

"And none of the rest of you saw this?" Ecklie asked, confused.

"No," Sara replied. "Not at that stage."

Ecklie made some more notes. Sara steadied her nerves, trying to ignore him.

"At the camp site, we asked Catherine how they had become separated, and she said she had been distracted by something, that she had seen something move off in the trees. When she had turned back, Sofia was gone. After that, we knew we weren't safe. We suspected there was something out there, but it was too dark and dangerous to search. We vowed to all stay close in to the camp site, for safety, and as a precaution Sofia joined Catherine and myself in our tent for the night. We changed into dry clothes, and tried to sleep."

She reached a natural pause. Ecklie's dark eyes looked up.

"Keep going," he urged.

"I was lying awake …"

Sara laid down the story exactly as she had to Brass the first time. She told them of lying awake in the tent with Sofia, their walk to the bathroom, and the shadows she had seen flit out of sight in the trees. When she told them of waking up on the ground, Ecklie's eyes narrowed in on her.

"You were attacked?" he asked quickly.

Sara hesitated, smiling awkwardly. "I can't say if I was attacked. I thought I saw something, and then I woke up on the ground. That's … basically all I can tell you."

Ecklie shot her a look as if she was deliberately splitting hairs, but she stared him down.

"And you didn't see anyone else?" Brass asked. "No one nearby, no voices..?"

"There was nothing," she said honestly.

"And were you injured?" Ecklie asked.

"I felt dizzy for a minute or two, but that was all."

"All right, what happened next?" Brass asked.

Sara continued to relate the story, telling of being taken back to the camp, the others being woken, and their unsuccessful search of the surrounding area. She related their lack of success to contact help over the radio, and their decision that Warrick and Vartann would attempt to hike out for aid. Ecklie and Brass listened in silence, giving few prompts until she reached the point where they had hiked down into the forest searching for Nick, and how they had come under gunfire at the rocky ledge.

There she hesitated, remembering Grissom's advice that they speak honestly, but knowing how it sounded.

"Sara?" Brass prompted.

Ecklie peered up at her from his notes.

"You drew your weapon, ran down with Sofia, and…?"

Sara took a deep breath, thinking of Grissom and drawing strength.

"I um … Sofia and I searched the area, our guns drawn, but it was deserted. It was still, eerily quiet. I can't explain it, and I know how this sounds, but it felt like there was something down there in that valley. I heard … what sounded like a voice, through the wind. It was really faint, distant. But we couldn't see anything. We found a cartridge casing on the ground, collected it, and then left."

Brass looked unmoved, having heard it already, but Ecklie's eyes didn't shift from her – professional enough not to mock her, yet openly confused.

"A voice?" he repeated.

"I'm just telling you how it was," she said, with forced calm. "I can't explain it, and I'm not about to try."

"Fair enough," Brass interjected, before Ecklie could respond. "Keep going, you're doing well."

Grateful, she moved on, and continued to relate her story, talking through events with open honesty. She described their getting lost, her battle with hypothermia, and all events leading up to her leaving again with Sofia, where they came under gunfire. Knowing Ecklie already knew her claims of Nick getting shot, she did not hold back, and paused for breath only after she had finished.

"So … Sofia ordered you to leave?" Ecklie clarified.

"Yes," Sara said calmly. "She did. There was no choice. I think she knew that if no one made it out for help, we were all going to die." She paused only briefly. "After that, I ran. I don't know how long I was running. I barely remember running into you on the track, but …" she shrugged. "That's really all I can say."

Ecklie made some final notes.

"Well thank you," Brass said sincerely. "We appreciate your honesty. You've been a big help."

"You're welcome," she replied.

She stood, pushing her chair in.

"And Sara?" Ecklie said.

She turned at the door.

"Send in Grissom."

XXX

The interrogations proceeded with agonising slowness over the next several hours, and Sara waited, feeling gutted as she watched her colleagues suffer through it one by one. Grissom returned looking windswept and haggard, and Catherine fared little better. Neither had much interest in conversation afterward, and on the couch opposite, Sofia too had little to say. She stared down tensely at her fingers, Nick's hand on her back, his fingertips drifting into the ends of her hair.

Sara wondered again what had happened to them, but did not dare ask. Logic told her they must have been under gunfire together, and after escaping, remained lost in the forest, trapped in a stormy downpour that had soaked Sofia into dangerous levels of hypothermia. Possibly, undoubtedly, Nick had kept her alive.

It was not until midday that she got her answers, when the interrogations ended, and Warrick – the last to be interviewed – eventually returned. He sat down with a sigh, looking depressed.

"How'd it go?" Catherine asked, crossing to his side. "You okay?"

"Yeah fine," he replied dully. "About as good as anyone can expect, considering. It's not every day you get to confess to letting your team down. Hike out for help only to get lost like a boy scout, nearly get your friends killed."

"You did nothing wrong," Sara said swiftly, not believing what she was hearing. "None of it was your fault."

"Wasn't it?" he challenged.

He stared across at her, doubtful.

"You did what you had to do," Catherine said firmly. "We all did."

"Right," Grissom agreed. "It could have been any one of us who got lost out there – in fact, we all did. Don't blame yourself."

Warrick nodded, though he still did not look convinced.

"I just don't feel right about it," he confessed. "I mean, this whole situation. It sucks, man."

"It sucks for all of us," Catherine soothed, putting her arm around him. "Don't worry about it. We're all good, okay?"

"We all made it out alive," Sofia added firmly. "That's all that matters."

Warrick looked across to Sara.

"You don't blame me, do you?"

Sara stared, confused. "_Why_ would I blame you?"

He did not answer, but smiled, grateful.

"Thanks," he said.

There was a brief pause in the conversation, after which Vartann glanced over his shoulder, checking the door was closed.

"So … are we going to talk about this?" he asked tentatively.

"We probably should," Nick put in. "Talk about it between ourselves before the stories start going around. Let's at least get the truth straight between us."

They all exchanged questioning looks.

"Sara?" Catherine prompted.

Sara saw she was asking permission, and nodded.

"It's fine," she replied.

"We don't have to know all the details," Warrick said. "I'm sure none of us are in the mood to go through all that again. You can skip the thesis, just give us the summary."

"Well…" Catherine began, taking a deep breath, "in short we had a bad time. After you left we had to leave camp to look for Nick, we ended up back in the forest. We hiked for a mile or two, then came across Sofia's light. We followed it a short way, then came under gunfire near some rocks. Sofia and Sara charged in, recovered a shell casing, but found nothing. We ran for safety, but got lost trying to find our way back to camp. Then the storm hit, Sara fell ill, came down with hypothermia, and we had to take shelter for a while in a small cave. A few hours later we found a body nearby– I was up a tree marking the spot with some clothing when I fell. Apparently I was unconscious a while."

She paused, and seeing the pained look in her face, Sara picked up the story.

"We came under more gunfire," she said, "and after it subsided we saw Catherine was in trouble, unconscious on the ground. She wasn't responding. So we braced her with our jackets, kept her warm and immobile, and Sofia and I left for help."

"Grissom stayed with her," Sofia went on, picking up the story, "while Sara and I hiked back to try and find camp. We went a fair way before we hit trouble. There were more shots, we fled in the opposite direction, dived for cover, but in the midst of it we heard Nick. It was clear he was in peril, pinned down somewhere behind us, so Sara went on to raise the alarm, eventually ran into Brass, and I went back to Nick to help."

"She found me under some trees, by a fallen log," Nick said, jumping in. "I'd fired off a fair few shots, trying to defend myself, but I could never get a look at the guy. Then I heard Sofia firing, yelling my name, and either she hit him or scared him off. Either way things fell quiet. We stayed there a few minutes, didn't want to leap out again before we were sure he was gone, but it was still silent. We went back for Sara, but she'd left, fled without trace, so after that we tried to find our own way out. But we weren't so lucky as you guys. The storm hit – torrential rain – and Sofia had left her jacket with Catherine. She got drenched, soaked through, and all I had was my t-shirt. There wasn't much in the way of shelter, and after a while she couldn't stop shaking. It kept getting worse. We tried to hold each other, stay as warm as we could, but …"

He trailed off.

"It didn't end well," Sofia provided, looking grim with the memory. "We were lost, hours passed, but eventually we heard a helicopter. We managed to walk to some rocks, where the tree cover was thin, and luckily, eventually we were found. We were both airlifted to hospital and … I woke up hours later."

"Wow," Vartann said, looking overwhelmed. "You guys had it bad."

"Makes the trip we had sound like a vacation," Warrick added.

"It was terrible, man," Nick said honestly, shaking his head. "I mean, I didn't think we would make it through that gunfire, but when the hypothermia came around … I thought we were gone. Didn't expect to ever see Vegas again, that's for sure."

"I know what you mean," Catherine said. "There were times there I didn't think we'd ever make it out alive. I'm still surprised that we did."

"He stalked us like a pro," Nick said. "Always lurking just out of sight, couldn't get a good look. The number of shots he fired off, it's a miracle we're all alive."

"I think that's the point," Grissom said. "For so much of the time we were out there, we were in plain sight. None of us were concealed. If he'd taken aim, he could shot us all at least a dozen times. Why didn't he?"

Sara's mind flashed back to the sight of Nick shot, holding his stomach. But still confused over the image, and picking up that Sofia had not mentioned it, she said nothing.

"Who knows?" Vartann ventured. "Maybe he's a bad shot."

"That bad?" Catherine asked doubtfully.

"Or maybe he didn't want to kill us," Grissom suggested. "Maybe the object of the game was to terrorise, not to kill."

"Well if that's the case, I think we can agree he won," Sara concluded. "But it still doesn't explain those three missing people. I mean, if he's not a killer, then where are they?"

No one had an answer.

"And it still doesn't explain what happened to Sara at camp, either," Warrick finished. "Or those strange lights you say you saw."

"Well we could spend forever speculating," Grissom said. "I think at this point all we can do is wait for the evidence. Maybe we'll know more once they recover the body we found. Autopsy should give us some clues."

"Right," Catherine agreed. "And we still have that shell casing. It's been passed over to day shift for analysis. And they'll probably recover all the bullets from the gunfights."

There was a brief pause. Sara did not feel reassured.

"You're saying not to worry, that the investigation is safe in the hands of Ecklie," she said doubtfully. "On the most confusing case we've ever seen."

"Ecklie may be subpar, but the lab isn't," Grissom said swiftly. "And neither's Brass. We just have to be patient."

"We'll figure it out," Catherine promised. "One way or another."

Sara sighed; still having doubts.

"It'll be fine," Grissom assured, touching her shoulder. "Don't worry about it." He stood. "Come on, let's go grab some lunch."

XXX

In the interrogation room of PD, Brass stared down at their collected pile of notes. The interviews had taken hours, and it had been every bit as rough as he had expected. It had been hard to watch from across the table, helpless, as his friends and colleagues struggled through their stories. Yet most of them had managed to remain professional, and give a clear account. What he had not expected was to feel even more confused at the end than he had when they had started. Coffee drained, he sighed, trying to pull his spinning thoughts back in a semblance of order.

"All right," he said, "let's see if we can fit these pieces together."

"Well I guess we can start with the good news," Ecklie said, "strange lights aside, none of them have actually claimed to have seen a ghost. The gunshots clearly indicate our suspect's human."

"A human no one saw," Brass said heavily. "Not one of them could give us a description. Not even a vague detail."

Ecklie flicked slowly through loose sheets of paper. "And yet there's something strange here. Several of the statements are remarkably evasive – Grissom's is succinct at best – and while the overall sequence of events matches, the details …"

He flicked over another page.

"… When you look closely, none of these statements tally."

Brass felt something lodge heavily in his chest. He had known when listening to the statements that something didn't seem quite right, and hearing Grissom's statement laid down beside Sara's had confirmed it.

"Something's wrong," he said gravely.

Ecklie nodded. "One of them's lying."

Brass stood up, grim. "And I think I know which one."

XXX

In the PD staff lounge, Sara sifted half-heartedly through the dregs of her salad, pushing aside a piece of lettuce with her fork. She had not felt much like eating, but had gone along with the crowd. She sat with the others on the couches, but had barely listened to their idle conversation, and it was not until Nick waved his hand across her line of vision that she realised they had been trying to get her attention.

"Sara," he repeated.

"Huh?"

She lifted her gaze and saw him staring at her with concern. Grissom was watching her closely.

"Did you hear us?" he asked kindly. "You looked a million miles away."

"No, I'm sorry, I …"

But no excuse came. She searched their faces, but had no memory of being asked anything.

"We asked if you're okay," Grissom supplied. "You seem quiet."

"I'm fine," she answered quickly.

But their eyes did not leave her. She saw Catherine exchange a fleeting glance with Grissom.

"You sure?" she probed.

A pause. She idly pushed around the piece of lettuce.

Nick got up, crossing to her side and resting a warm arm across her shoulders. She tried to stifle tears, not knowing where they came from.

"Look, Sara," he said gently, "you know we're all friends here. If something's bothering you, you can talk to us. There's no shame in leaning on a friend, letting us help. We all understand."

She said nothing.

"Did Ecklie say something to you?" Sofia asked kindly. "If he did, you can say. We can sort it out."

Sara felt touched by the offer, but shook her head, not knowing where her feelings came from.

"It's not Ecklie," she said. "I guess I'm just tired."

"Maybe you should go home," Grissom said. "Get some rest."

"Snuggle up in bed for a few hours, hmm?" Nick suggested, rubbing her back warmly. "Take some time out. Maybe you'll feel better."

She tried to pull herself together, and sighed.

"You're probably right," she said.

She moved to gather up her salad, eyeing the bin in the corner.

"Come on," Grissom said, reaching to help her to her feet. "I'll give you a lift."

She had dropped her salad into the bin just as they heard a knock at the door. Turning, she saw Ecklie enter with Brass. Brass looked grim; Ecklie's hands slid casually onto his hips.

Sara froze as Brass' agitated gaze passed over her.

"Conrad," Grissom greeted formally.

"Gil," he returned.

There was a moment of uncertain silence.

"We've got a problem," Brass said gravely. "We need your help."

XXX

"Your statements don't match," Ecklie explained.

"What?" Sofia exclaimed.

"They don't tally," he repeated. "Your stories."

Sara glanced to the others, but was only vaguely reassured to see them all as shocked as she was. Catherine stood, mouth open and ready to argue, but Sofia got in first.

"What do you mean? We didn't talk to each other –"

"Oh, believe me," Ecklie said bluntly, hands stiff on his hips. "_That's_ evident. If you had, you would have at least come up with the same story, and not the poppycock we just heard."

"Poppycock?" Vartann repeated.

But Grissom looked perplexed. "Conrad –"

Ecklie didn't pause. "I know you've all been through a lot, we don't dispute that, but it may be the right time to remind you that perjury's a crime. And being in the LVPD doesn't make you immune."

Sofia looked lost. "No one here perjured themselves …"

"We're professionals," Warrick said, face tightening. "We all told the truth."

In the corner Brass remained ominously silent.

"_Everyone_ told the truth," Grissom echoed. "It may not yet make sense, but that doesn't change is nature."

"There'll always be slight variations between statements," Catherine put in, eyes firm. "Everyone knows that."

"We're not talking about minor discrepancies," Ecklie replied. "It's not a question of debating someone's appearance or the colour of a passing car. We're talking about gaping holes in the basic facts."

"Such as?" Nick challenged.

"We'll reveal the particulars in private," Brass said, with grave calm. "To the person in question."

"What?" Catherine asked. "To who?"

She looked around, but Brass' eyes settled with deep unease on Sara.

Suddenly she felt in the spotlight, all eyes upon her.

"Sara?" Nick realised.

"Are you saying there's a problem with her statement?" Grissom asked.

"There may be," Brass confirmed.

He held out a hand, beckoning her.

"Sara –"

But Grissom stepped forward. "She's already told you everything she knows. She went through it twice."

"I know," Brass said calmly. "We just need to talk. It won't take long."

"Sara," Ecklie prompted.

Sara went to move, but was stopped by Grissom's hand clutching her elbow.

"Sara's a member of my team," he said. "Any accusations of perjury come through me. She's not going anywhere until you tell us the problem."

"Gil, please," Brass said, holding up a hand. "Stop fluffing your feathers. Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

He ducked around Catherine, approaching Sara where she stood silent.

"Come on," he said kindly, taking her from Grissom's grasp. "Let's go somewhere private."

* * *

><p><em>Sincere thanks to go those who left feedback after the last chapter. Every little piece of encouragement helps. I'm on annual leave at the moment, hence the speedy update, hopefully going to make some great progress on this story before I go back to work! Thanks to those who keep reading.<em>


	14. Chapter 14

XXX

They left, the door closing behind them with a soft click. Stunned silence fell on the room.

"Conrad?" Grissom prompted.

"Stay out of this one, Gil," Ecklie replied, raising a hand. "It's for the best."

Grissom stared; feeling lost and confused. Across the room, Sofia fixed Ecklie with her best diplomatic look.

"I think you owe us an explanation," she said calmly.

"You said her statement differs," Warrick added. "_How_?"

Ecklie flashed them a look of impatience. "The story you're all telling, isn't the story she gave. According to Sara, she agrees she walked Sofia to the restroom, but says she then woke up on the ground just outside feeling faint. She says Sofia walked her back to the tents, woke the rest of you for help, and then searched the forest for the perp. She says she felt dizzy for a moment or two, but that she was fine."

Somewhere deep in Grissom's chest, he felt a ripple of fear.

"Well that's … not what happened," Catherine said weakly, looking scared.

"She also says that Nick was gone at the time," Ecklie continued, "that the last she saw of him was when you all said goodnight, and that you later deduced he'd left in the hour in which you were all asleep."

"Well, Ecklie …" Nick smiled, looking awkward. "I was there. I admit I left later, like I said, I followed something into those trees. But I was there for Sara. I stuck by her."

"We all did," Vartann agreed.

"Well I don't know what to tell you," Ecklie finished.

There was a moment of silence.

"Well I don't get it," Nick said, confused. "I mean, I _know_ Sara, she'd never lie in a statement …"

"There'd be no point," Warrick added, "knowing that we're all just going to tell the truth."

"Which means," Sofia said, nervous, "that she probably doesn't remember."

A pause.

"And he's going to tell her," Vartann concluded, looking up at Brass. "Right?"

Ecklie nodded. "There's no choice."

Grissom felt as if the floor had left from under him; his lungs devoid of air.

"How do you think she'll take it?" Warrick asked softly.

"I don't know," Catherine replied, visibly worried. "There's no easy way to break that to someone."

"Then what do we do?"

"Nothing," Grissom replied, helpless. "We wait."

"Wait … and help her pick up the pieces," Catherine agreed.

XXX

The corridors were busy when Sara stepped back out with Brass, back into the slipstream of the PD working day. She walked in silence beside him, trying to hold onto her jumping nerves until finally they reached the quiet rear of the building, where Brass led her into a secluded office. He shut the door behind them, then tugged on the blinds cord for privacy.

"Take a seat," he said kindly.

Sara hesitated for a moment, weighing up the expression on his face.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Please," he said, waving to the black couches. "It's okay."

He took her arm, gently leading her over.

"This is just between you and me."

He sat her down with a sigh, and she saw for a moment he looked uncomfortable. Something rattled in the backs of his eyes.

"It's okay," Sara supplied, steadying her nerves. "You can tell me."

He looked at her hard for a second, then nodded.

"Look," he said. "I don't want to make this difficult, so I'm going to get straight to the point. I mean, I was with you out there in that desert, when we found you, and I know how scared you were. And you had every right to be scared. I mean, we all were. And I accept that maybe it was my fault, that I pushed you to talk before you were ready. So if it came out a little wrong, a little off target, it wasn't your fault."

Sara felt utterly lost.

"I don't follow," she said.

"When I asked you what happened at that campsite," Brass elaborated, "how you came to be wearing Sofia's jacket, you made it clear to me that something had happened. Something you didn't want to talk about. But, you know, right or wrong, we pushed you to tell us. And I get it, I really do, I mean you were traumatised. And I think in the industry we're in, it's probably natural to play it down. No one wants to look weak, make a big deal, and especially not in front of the boss. And if it was just a small discrepancy between your version and theirs, it wouldn't matter. But it's not."

Sara swallowed hard, deeply uncomfortable. In her mind she shut a door hard closed, sensing something hazy, something unformed, lurking on the other side.

"Look," he went on, "if you said what you said because you don't want to remember, I understand. I really do. Just tell me that's the case. But if you said it because you can't remember – because maybe you just pieced together what you could – then we have a problem. Because a memory gap like that concerns me. It concerns all of us."

Sara said nothing. She let her eyes flit across the office, wanting to focus on something else, _anything_ else ..

"Do you remember?" Brass asked gently.

She held silent.

"Sara?"

He put his arm around her, warm and comforting.

"Come on, work with me here. I'm on your side, you can tell me the truth."

A beat passed.

"Sara?"

She took a deep breath, struggling to hold back tears, stubbornly drawing strength.

Her voice was shaky. "I uh …"

"No one expects you to remember the whole thing," Brass said. "I mean, you had a head injury, we know that. But, I don't know, maybe you remember some things. A few pieces."

She felt the door in her mind creak open, and braced herself.

"Why don't I start you off," Brass said, still holding her warmly. "Let me tell you some of what Sofia told me. You know she gave us quite a detailed account. Now she confirms you couldn't sleep, and that you walked her to the restroom that night. She says you yelled out to her, but when she came out to help, you'd vanished. She searched the clearing, woke the others, and they all went looking. According to her they found you about thirty yards away, deep in the forest, unconscious."

Sara held her breath, the pain immeasurable.

"She says you were ill, pale, that the forest was dark, they couldn't see two feet in front of them. They were all scared, not knowing where the perp was, knowing he was probably behind the next tree. She said it was stormy, raining hard …"

… _First came the cloudiness. She felt as if she was falling, no ground beneath her, turbulent through the air. Voices called to her through the clouds, faint and so far away …_

"_Sara? Sara, can you hear me?"_

_She tried to move a hand in the fog, searching. A man's hand caught her, firm and hard._

_She recognised Warrick's voice._

"_Sara, can you hear me?" it said desperately. "Can you breathe?"_

_A hand cupped her face._

"_You're okay," he said, fast and panicked. "You're all right, you're okay …"_

The memory vanished. Sara felt breathless, shell-shocked by the scrap of memory.

They were right, she realised. They had all been right.

She felt sick.

"You remember, don't you?" Brass asked gently.

Her hands shook.

"I … think Warrick was there…" she ventured.

"Yeah," Brass confirmed, nodding. "He carried you back to camp."

… _she felt arms slide under her, a voice more gentle than she had ever heard before._

"_Hold onto me," he said softly. "Hold on –"_

_Weak, she collapsed against his shoulder. The strong arms lifted her, caring but confident._

_Nick's voice, firm and close by: "Hold on, Sara, we've got you –"_

In her seat, she froze, stunned.

"Nick was there …"

"He was," Brass confirmed. "He was there."

She felt confused, unable to riddle it out, and wondered how much more she had been wrong about.

"And … Warrick and Vartann?" she asked shakily.

"They didn't leave to fetch back-up," Brass replied. "They left to get medical aid. They went to save your life."

_She saw Warrick, his guilt-ridden face staring at her across the PD staff lounge. _

"_You don't blame me, do you?" he asked._

_And she had not realised .._

"_Why would I blame you?"_

"And yes," Brass went on. "Nick was there. You said he'd left while you were all asleep, but ... it was an hour later, best we can figure. He was standing in the clearing, on lookout, protecting you all. He says he 'sensed' something in the trees, I guess instinct told him to look."

She felt grateful for Brass' firm arm, feeling as if she would disintegrate if he let go.

"According to Sofia," Brass continued, "you were out of it for a while, but then you improved. By the time Nick went missing, she said you were yourself again. Everyone panicked that he was gone, feared he was hurt like you were … you all followed his tracks. And the rest, you know."

She felt sick, her stomach swilling.

"I think you gave them all a scare," Brass said honestly.

_More memories came, of Grissom by her hospital bed, asking if she was okay … of Catherine's pale face in the cave, scrutinising her and knowing something was wrong. _

"_You wanna talk about it?"_

She had sensed something, but shut it down, changed the subject … dodged that precipice she felt near the edge of her feet.

But now she knew, and through all the confusion sensed the truth.

"I nearly died," she said slowly.

And Brass did not reply.

XXX

Minutes later, up the lonely back corridor of PD headquarters, Sara threw open the door to the ladies' restroom, hurriedly crossing the deserted tiles to the farthest sink. She gripped the edges hard with her fingers, steadying herself as her body and mind reeled.

Knuckles rapped on the entrance door. She heard Brass' muffled voice.

"Sara! You okay in there?"

She ignored him, instead closing her eyes to try and collect herself, to hold off the nausea and budding anger. She felt a tear slip, and hastily swiped it away.

"Sara?"

She heard footsteps, then Catherine's hushed voice. "We'll handle this –"

A second later the door opened, and out of her corner vision Sara saw Catherine and Sofia enter. They eyed her with concern for a moment before cautiously approaching.

"Sara?" Catherine said.

"Are you all right?" Sofia echoed.

Sara took a moment before replying, drawing a deep breath.

"I just need a minute here," she said.

"Of course," Catherine said kindly. "I know hearing that must've come as a shock."

"To have it confirmed that everything you thought was true was nonsense?" Sara responded. "Yeah, it did."

"Sara …" Sofia looked troubled. "We're sorry. We didn't realise you didn't remember. If we had, we would have pulled you aside and told you before they did."

The statement lingered for a moment in the silence. Sara sighed, wiping away another stray tear. She could not bring herself to blame Sofia, to blame any of them when it hadn't been their fault.

"Here -" Catherine drew some paper towel from the dispenser, pressing it into her hand. "Wipe your tears, it's okay."

She rubbed Sara's back comfortingly.

"Everything's going to be fine."

Sara dabbed at her cheek, and sniffed, frustrated with her own lack of composure. She drew herself up, pulling herself together.

"I'm sorry," she said. "This is just a really screwed up situation …"

"You don't have to apologise," Sofia replied.

But before they could say anything more the door opened, and Grissom entered, rushing in with an expression of stunned alarm.

"Ecklie just told me you saw Nick get _shot_," he blurted.

Sara reflexively looked away, the memory and words stinging.

"You do realise this is the women's bathroom," Catherine said swiftly.

He ignored her. "Sara? Is that true?"

"Yeah, um …"

But words failed her as she swallowed back the memory of Nick's blood.

She saw Sofia cast him a disapproving look.

"She's been through enough right now –"

"I doubt choosing to ignore it will make it hurt less," Grissom replied calmly. He lay a gentle hand on Sara's shoulder. "Sara?"

Reluctantly, she turned, and was met by his concerned expression. His eyes studied her closely.

He gestured to a clean space of floor near the wall.

"Let's sit down."

"Here?" Catherine said doubtfully.

"Here," he confirmed.

There was a firmness in his expression which left no room for argument. Sara sighed, letting him lead her to the wall where he pulled her down with him. His fingers slipped to her loosely touch her wrist.

"Well, I guess it is the only place in the building that Ecklie won't follow us into," Sofia said, smiling slightly as she joined them.

"Which makes it perfect," Grissom agreed.

He nodded to a spare spot of floor in front of them.

"Cath," he indicated.

Catherine sighed, and looking as if she was faintly wondering if it was clean, sat down.

"Nick?" Grissom called loudly. "Are you still there?"

Sara heard Nick's muffled reply through the door.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"I want you to go get Sara a drink and then get in here," he instructed.

"All right …" Nick said uncertainly. "What kind of drink?"

"Something alcoholic!" Sara called, close to having had enough.

"Hot chocolate!" Grissom overruled firmly.

"Okay. I'll be right back –"

Grissom turned to Sara, and looked for a moment as if he was choosing his words carefully.

"I think you'd better tell us what you saw," he said.

Sara eyed him for a moment, but knew she couldn't squeeze out of it.

"I uh … coming back from leaving you and Catherine, Sofia and I came under fire. We took cover behind some trees, tried to shelter. But then amongst the gunfire I heard Nick. He was calling out, asking if there was someone there. And then –" she paused, choking on the memory. "- And then, I saw him down in the trees. He was yelling desperately for help. He reached out a hand to me, and then was hit three times in the back. His white t-shirt was stained red with blood."

She paused there, knowing he knew the rest.

"You _saw_ that?" Catherine exclaimed, alarmed.

But Grissom held up a hand, indicating for her to wait.

"Now give us your version," he said, looking to Sofia.

Sofia looked awkward. "We were under fire," she confirmed. "We took cover behind a large tree, but the shots kept coming. I heard Nick call out – I think he asked if someone was there – but I didn't see him. Sara wanted to go down, and yes, I restrained her. I told her to go for help, and then I crept back down myself and found him sheltering under a fallen tree."

Grissom looked confused.

"So you didn't actually _see_ Nick at the time you went down to help him?"

"I had my head down, but no," Sofia said. "And when I did find him –" she hesitated "- he wasn't wearing a white t-shirt. It was black."

"You sure?" Catherine asked.

"I'm positive," she replied.

Sara felt a ripple of uncertainty, and though she sensed from Grissom's remarkable calm that he had a theory, she had no time to ask for it, as a knock at the door signalled Nick's return. He entered carrying a large hot chocolate and handed it down to Sara.

"Here you go –"

She thanked him. Errand done, Nick looked around at the bathroom, wondering at their choice of location, and why they were sitting on the floor.

"Don't ask," Catherine filled in.

He smiled. "Okay, I won't. Anything else, boss?"

"Yes," Grissom replied, serious. "Take your shirt off."

Nick stared, smiling in disbelief. "You're not serious?"

"Actually, I am," he said, straight-faced. "Strip."

Nick hesitated.

"Don't tell us you're shy, Nicky," Catherine teased.

"I'm not shy," he said, grinning. "I just –"

"Sara says she saw you get shot three times in the back," Grissom cut in, impatient. "I'm collecting evidence. I've heard their sides of the story, now we need yours. Prove to her you're not shot."

Nick smiled, then shrugged. "Well okay," he said cheerfully. "Whatever makes you feel better, Sara. But you know –" he paused while he pulled his t-shirt over his head "- usually I get a date first."

"Well I'm sure Grissom would be happy to oblige," Sara said smoothly.

Grissom passed her a deadpan expression. She laughed.

"You want the jeans too?" Nick asked, standing bare-chested.

"No, that's enough," Grissom replied.

"Tell me we're going somewhere with this," Catherine put in.

"Well he's not shot," Grissom concluded, shrugging innocently.

"Damn right I'm not," Nick added. He crouched down, joining them in the fold. "Sara, I don't know what it was that you saw, but it wasn't me. But don't feel bad. I mean, if you ask me, life's full enough of bad memories without taking along the ones that never really happened in the first place."

Sara nodded. "I know it wasn't real – but thanks."

She passed him a look of gratitude, grateful for his support.

"So what you're saying is that she hallucinated," Sofia concluded.

"Exactly," Grissom said. "I think there are two very good explanations for what you saw," he said to Sara, "the first is hypothermia, and the second is your head injury. Either one on its own is enough to cause hallucinations, especially in a high pressure situation, but combined, you could argue it was almost inevitable."

"A person's body temperature has to be extremely low before they start hallucinating," Sara argued. "It has to be past the point of no return. My temperature was not that low."

"But your head injury was serious," Catherine said, with quiet honesty. "Hit the human brain in the right place, and it can definitely knock you around. It's classic post-traumatic amnesia – it halts the brain's ability to form memories, until the pressure subsides. And like Grissom says, together … it does make sense."

Sara wanted to agree, but felt in her statement the missing piece of puzzle – her alleged head injury. She still remembered nothing.

"Was it bad?" Sara asked quietly.

"For a little while," Grissom replied.

His expression was hard to read, and she felt the weight of the gaping hole in her memory, and the sequence of events which had unfolded.

"Would you like us to tell you what happened?" Sofia asked.

Sara hesitated, wondering if she had the strength to hear it.

"I uh … no, I don't think –"

"You don't even want to hear the part about when Grissom sang you nursery rhymes?" Nick asked, smiling.

"Or what you said?" Catherine added, amused.

Sara stared, feeling a flicker of disbelief and curiosity. She saw Grissom's mouth turn up at the corner.

"Sorry," Nick teased, pretending that time was up. "_Bzzzz_ - too late. Missed your chance."

She grinned, laughing. "You _cannot_ stop there …"

"I've piqued your curiosity now, haven't I?" Nick said knowingly.

"Well," Catherine said, adjusting her position to get more comfortable. "I guess now's as good a time as any. Who wants the honours?"

"Not Grissom," Nick teased, passing Sara a conspiring look. "You know he might lie, leave out the best parts."

Sara grinned.

"Sofia?" Catherine asked.

"All right," she said, indifferent. "But don't blame me for telling the truth."

"We won't hold it against you," Nick assured.

With a sigh, Sofia began talking.

* * *

><p><em>Wondering as I post this if I made this too cheerful, considering how serious the plot is. You can't half tell I sketched it out at 1:00am while in a silly mood and watching the Olympics. But I kinda like it, too, and for that reason I'm going to post as-is. Hope you guys like it.<em>


	15. Chapter 15

**SOFIA'S STORY**

_In telling the story Sofia skipped over the parts that went without saying, lingering instead on the things that she knew Sara would want to know. She passed over, for instance, how she had thrown open the toilet door to find Sara gone, how she had circled for a brief moment with her gun ruthlessly raised before bolting back to the sleepy huddle of tents for help. And while she herself could recall vividly the restless anxiety she had felt in those few moments in which she waited for them to get dressed, for Vartann to pull on his jeans and Catherine her boots, she knew it was not relevant to the story. _

"_We found you in the forest," she began instead, and there let her mind travel back._

_The night had been wild. Sofia recalled without shame how unnerved she had been stepping into the forest, how strange and almost eerie the forest had felt. It was a darkness thicker and more complete than she had ever encountered in the cities, one the narrow beam of her torch could barely begin to penetrate. High above them the towering treetops thrashed around in the wind, leaves rustling to a crescendo before stilling, then rising again, and as Sofia walked further into the forest with Grissom she felt it steadily swallow them, until she felt an instinctive awesome chill of mother nature tingle in her blood._

"_Let's go this way," she said, indicating ahead with her light._

_They pressed forward, silently edging further into the forest, Sofia's ears straining for any hint of noise over the storm. She heard her colleagues' calls grow faint behind them as they moved away, their hopeful voices wafting through the trees._

"_SARA…!"_

"_Can you hear us?" Catherine yelled._

_Beside her Grissom gasped as he nearly stumbled, his foot slipping on wet leaves. Sofia shot out a hand to steady him._

"_You okay?"_

"_Fine," he replied. "Thanks."_

_She could not see his face, but heard the uncertainty in his voice as he spoke._

"_It's cold out here – must be barely above freezing."_

_Sofia could feel the icy temperature against her face, the ends of her hair whipping her cheeks as they blew in the wind._

"_Let's just keep moving," she said._

_She could hardly remember how long they had walked before they finally heard Warrick's call, only that when they did hear he had sounded distant, the ends of the words swallowed by the storm._

"_I SEE HER…!"_

_She heard far off scrambling as they turned to run, Catherine's voice shouting out to search for them a moment later._

"_WE'VE GOT HER! … SHE'S HURT –"_

"_CATHERINE, WHERE ARE YOU?" Grissom shouted, scanning the forest as they ran._

_Catherine appeared between the trees over a hundred yards ahead, shining her torchlight to guide them in as her hair blew wildly in the storm._

"_NICK!" she yelled, calling back over her shoulder. "LOU!"_

_She remained there until they had her pinpointed, before disappearing quickly again behind a cluster of trees. Sofia sprinted up the hill to join her, gun still outstretched, until she rounded the thick tree trunks to see a pale, ghostly figure lying in the mud at their base. _

"_Oh my God –"_

_She rushed forward to help, throwing herself onto her knees beside Warrick. _

"_Pulse is strong but she's not breathing," he said. "Help me roll her, quick –"_

_They helped, Grissom keeping her head carefully steady until they had her on her back. Warrick did not hesitate, pinching Sara's nose closed with his thumb and forefinger before leaning down to breathe into her._

_Sara's chest half rose._

"_Tilt her head back," Sofia said. "It'll open up her airway."_

_They did, just as Nick and Vartann skidded into the fold._

"_Damn," Vartann said, looking alarmed at the sight._

"_She's stone cold," Catherine said darkly, touching Sara's hand._

"_No obvious sign of injury," Sofia added, glancing up and down Sara's form in the dim torchlight._

"_Keep going," Grissom said, as Warrick paused to draw breath. "Keep up a steady rhythm."_

"_Come on, Sara," Nick said desperately. "Come on –"_

_They waited with bated breath, watching helplessly as Warrick attempted to revive her. The wind blew around them with a chilling sting, yet none of them registered it. Grissom held Sara's head still, his wide eyes locked onto her, and Sofia watched, feeling each second pass in gruelling agony._

"_Come on, Sara," Nick pleaded, "breathe for us, you can do it –"_

"_We've got you, Sara," Catherine added bracingly._

_And at last, she moved, drawing in a sharp breath and coughing slightly._

_Grissom threw out a hand to stop Warrick._

"_Breathe, Sara!" Nick said. "Breathe –"_

"_You're all right, Sara," Grissom said, fingers stroking her cheek. "We're all here, you're okay –"_

_Sofia doubted that Sara had heard them. She lay with her eyes closed, looking groggy and only semi-conscious. _

"_Can you hear us, Sara?" Vartann added, speaking clearly. "Can you breathe?"_

_She did not reply. Her head was limp between Grissom's hands. He smoothed back her wet hair, encouraging her to breathe._

"_Sara!" Warrick said loudly. "It's me, Warrick. Can you hear me?"_

"_Keep talking to her," Catherine said, "Pulse is strong –"_

"_You'll be okay, Sara," Grissom said. "Just breathe for us, nice and steady –"_

_She drew a few shaky breaths, trembling violently. Her left hand reached hesitantly up into the space between them, searching. Warrick caught it firmly in his own._

"_Sara, it's me, Warrick. Can you hear us? Can you breathe comfortably?"_

_Grissom tenderly stroked her cheek with his thumb. _

"_Talk to us, Sara," he said clearly. "Open your eyes."_

_Her eyelids looked heavy. She struggled to open them halfway, looking groggy and uncomprehending._

"_You're okay," Warrick said, squeezing her hand. "You're all right, we're all here …"_

_She stared blankly up at him._

"_Talk to us if you can, Sara," Sofia said. "You'll be okay."_

_Sara slipped her hand out of Warrick's, raising her trembling fingers instead to those holding her face, probing with evident puzzlement. _

"_It's me, Grissom," he assured, taking her hand in his while looking firmly down into her eyes. "I need you to talk to us, Sara. Tell us if you're in pain."_

_She looked confused, not understanding why she was on the ground, or why Grissom was holding her. She continued to shake, her clothes soaked with the damp and the mud, looking distinctly ill._

"_What happened?" she asked weakly._

"_You've had an accident," Grissom replied. "Are you hurt? Feel any pain?"_

_She looked puzzled, dazed._

"_Are you hurt, Sara?" Nick repeated._

_Her eyes slipped closed. "I feel sick …"_

"_Head injury," Catherine whispered, with a dark look to the rest of them._

_Grissom looked just as worried, but when he spoke his voice was calm and in control._

"_Do you feel any pain in your head or chest?" he asked._

"_No, I uh –"_

_Sofia leapt up as she saw something in the trees, ripping her gun from its holster. _

"_Sofia?" Catherine queried._

"_Be quiet," she said quickly._

_She held deathly still, eyes locked onto the surrounding forest. It was still as dark as ever, the shadowy trees dancing restlessly in the wind, yet she was sure that she had seen something, something which did not belong. Behind her, she heard a gun being slipped from its holster, and then Vartann appeared beside her, casting a glance at her for guidance._

"_Which direction?" he whispered._

"_Straight ahead," she replied, gun locked onto the position._

_They waited, watching and listening hard. _

"_I don't see anything," he said._

_But Sofia was sure, her senses alert with the same gut instinct she had felt before, when she had first had her own encounter in the forest. There was something there, she knew it._

"_We're not safe here," she said quietly._

_She looked quickly over her shoulder, searching for Warrick._

"_If you can move her, pick her up, we have to leave –"_

"_What is it?" Grissom asked, worried._

"_We're not alone," she replied. _

_She turned quickly to hurry them as Warrick gently gathered Sara into his arms. Her head fell limp and semi-conscious against his shoulder. Catherine looked deeply disturbed as she watched._

"_Hold onto me," he said gently. "Hold on, I've got you –"_

"_You'll be fine, Sara," Nick echoed._

_Sofia put a hand to Grissom's back, urging him to hurry, as Vartann took a protective grip of Catherine's elbow, glancing warily over his shoulder._

"_Let's go," he said. "Let's hurry –"_

_Despite the fact that they were little more than fifty yards from the campsite, it was slow going on the return. Warrick carried Sara carefully in his arms, wary of doing damage, flanked all the while by a concerned Grissom and Catherine, and Sofia brought up the rear, walking backwards and guarding them from what she knew had to be out there. _

_She felt a flicker of relief when they finally reached the clearing. The wet grass glistened in the torchlight as they headed for the shelter, the steady rain pattering on the tin roof. _

"_Call for help," Sofia instructed, as they reached the gleaming concrete floor and picnic table. "We need backup and a medic."_

_Vartann made a beeline for the radio as Sara began to struggle in Warrick's arms._

"_Let me down," she pleaded weakly. "Let me down –"_

"_All right –"_

_He moved to set her carefully down on her feet, but Sara reached toward the concrete, seeking desperately to lie back down._

"_Let me …"_

"_Let her lie down!" Grissom said._

_He caught her, locking an arm around her waist and lowering her safely to the concrete. She slumped face-down onto it, her head resting on one arm. She breathed erratically, her wet body trembling._

"_Deep breaths," Grissom coached. "Stay calm, you're okay –"_

"_Looks like a concussion," Catherine said. "The dizziness, confusion …"_

_Sofia looked to Vartann, but his scared, pale eyes told her all she needed to know. The radio gave only static in response, and he threw a desperate look at the stormy sky. The rain was getting heavier, already puddling at the edges of the shelter._

"_I feel sick," Sara said, gasping for breath._

_Sofia quickly reached toward their supplies, snatching up a spare plastic bag and handing it to Grissom._

"_Here –"_

_Grissom opened it ready near her head._

"_If you're going to vomit, do it in the bag, it's okay."_

_She pulled it weakly toward her, leaning over it, but seemed to swallow as if trying to hold it in._

"_Go ahead if you need to, it's okay," Nick said comfortingly. "It's all right –"_

_She began to retch, spilling her stomach into the plastic bag. Catherine reached quickly to hold her wet hair back out of the way, as Grissom and Nick held her. When done she panted for breath, coughing, as the static of the radio buzzed ominously behind them._

"_Lie back down," Grissom said, seeing her waver with dizziness._

_The group lowered her carefully back onto the concrete, where she closed her eyes and lay shivering._

_Sofia hurried back to their tent, throwing up the zip before scrambling inside to dig in her pack. She grabbed at a dry towel and spare LVPD jacket before rushing back._

"_Thanks," Catherine said, taking the items from her._

_She used the towel to wipe the worst of the dirt and mud from Sara's face, hair and exposed arms, before rolling it up as a dry pillow and moving to place it under her head._

"_Just lift yourself up a sec'," she said, supporting her._

_They slipped the towel under her head, and Sara sank into it, whimpering softly. Grissom spread the LVPD jacket over her to shield her from the biting wind._

"_It's okay," Catherine said kindly, sweeping her hair back. "It's all right … you're gonna be fine …"_

"_How do you feel?" Grissom asked, holding her hand. _

"_Not good," she said weakly._

"_Maybe we should move her inside, out of this cold wind," Warrick suggested, nodding to the girls' tent. _

"_No," Grissom said, firm. "She doesn't move 'til she's ready. It's not worth the risk."_

_Sofia knew what he was thinking, wondering and hoping that they hadn't done any damage already in moving her from the forest, but that had been necessary, and unavoidable if they were to all remain alive. Yet it was nevertheless obvious that she had sustained a head injury, and it was entirely possible that damage had been done, that she could be bleeding in her brain._

"_Do you have a headache?" Grissom queried. "Any pain at all?"_

"_I feel really dizzy," Sara murmured in reply. _

"_I think you have a concussion. I think maybe you hit your head."_

"_I just want to rest a minute," she pleaded weakly._

"_That's fine, just rest and take it easy. We're going to get you some help."_

"_You'll be okay, Sara," Warrick added. "Don't worry about a thing, we've got it covered."_

_She relaxed, her respiration evening out as if she were sleeping. Catherine, looking deeply shaken, raised questioning eyes to Vartann, but he shook his head, and then gestured for a private word away from Sara._

"_Sara," Grissom said clearly, "We're going to step away for just a second, all right? Nick's going to stay right here with you, we'll be right back."_

_She gave a faint murmur of assent. Grissom pressed his eyes firmly into Nick._

"_Stay with her." _

_Nick nodded, and the rest of them stepped away, crossing a few yards to stand out of earshot near the treeline._

"_You can't get through?" Catherine asked, looking anxious._

"_Must be interference from the storm," Vartann said. "The weather –"_

_He threw a despairing look at the ugly night sky._

"_So what are our options, then?" Warrick said. "Either we wait, or –"_

"_We can't wait," Sofia said firmly. "Even if we do get through, they're never going to land a helicopter in this weather at this altitude. And Sara could be bleeding in the brain right now."_

"_She's right," Grissom said. _

"_Well then one of us clearly has to go for help," Catherine said, looking determined. "Hike out back down that track to the ranger's station and get assistance."_

"_It's a hell of a long way in the rain," Warrick said, concerned. "In this weather, that track will be a mudslide, if we can see it at all. We could break our necks."_

"_So what are you suggesting?" Vartann asked, annoyed. "That we all grab a deck chair and watch her die?"_

_Grissom flinched at the statement, and quickly shook it off._

"_Sara needs help," he said simply. "Now however we do that, we're going to get it for her."_

"_Well I'm happy to go," Catherine said, shrugging. "Every second we stand here is just wasting time."_

"_I agree," Sofia said swiftly._

"_No way," Warrick replied._

_Sofia felt her temper flare. "If you're too scared, you can stay here, we're not asking you to come."_

"_That's not the point," Warrick said. "This isn't about fear, it's about common sense. We've got a killer out there, and one's that evidently not afraid of getting violent. Sara was armed and he still knocked her down. And there's only one plausible reason why he'd drag her into that hollow instead of killing her where she stood. Sara's a beautiful woman. We probably came along just in time."_

_There was silence as his words hit them. Grissom looked like he'd been struck. Sofia shifted, feeling only more anxious._

"_If he jumps you out there on that track, like he did Sara, you won't have a prayer, Catherine," he finished. "It's not worth the risk."_

_There was an awkward pause._

"_He's right," Vartann said, looking scared of the mere thought._

"_We'll go," Warrick said, nodding to Vartann. "You and Sofia stay here with Grissom and Nick. Take care of her."_

_Catherine nodded, looking sullen._

"_Keep all the lights on," he advised. "The camping lantern. Keep the place brightly lit, your guns handy, and stay close together. Once she's moveable take her inside the tent, and stay there. Make sure no one goes to sleep."_

"_Let's go," Vartann said. "We can save the debate on feminism versus chivalry for another time. For now, let's just get her help."_

_The decision made, they left quickly, pausing only to throw on warmer clothes before jogging off for the start of the track. Sofia then returned to the shelter with Grissom and Catherine to find that Sara had not moved. She lay under the LVPD jacket with her eyes closed, pale and trembling. Nick was holding her hand tight. _

"_Nicky, why don't you give us a minute," Catherine said quietly, taking out her pen light. _

_Nick looked at her, confused._

"_Just turn around," she said._

_Looking puzzled, he did. Sofia saw Grissom also avert his gaze, knowing what she was thinking and still looking rattled by it._

_Catherine lay a soothing hand to Sara's hair._

"_It's me. I'm just going to take a quick look at you, make sure you're okay."_

_Sara did not reply, apparently beyond caring what she did._

_Sofia lifted aside the LVPD jacket, and sharing a dark, fearful look Catherine lifted the hem of her black tank top, raising it to view her jeans. They were still fully zipped, the single button still clasped. She lifted the denim with a finger, checking her underwear were still in place. _

_Replacing the clothing again she heaved a huge sigh of relief._

"_Well I won't forgive him for putting that thought in my head," she said bluntly, as the guys turned back around._

"_Cat?" Sara whispered._

"_Right here," she replied, taking her hand._

"_Is everything okay?"_

"_Everything's fine," Catherine said. "The guys have gone for help. Don't worry."_

"_You're going to be fine, Sara," Sofia said. _

"_We'll just sit here a little while, take it nice and easy."_

"_Let us know if you feel up to moving, and we'll help you inside the tent," Grissom said, re-joining them. "You can get out of the wind, be a little more comfortable, maybe even have a sleep for a while."_

_Sara said nothing._

"_How's that sound?" Nick prompted. "All right?"_

"_Okay," she replied._

_She sighed, letting go of Catherine's hand to push herself up, but Nick stopped her halfway._

"_Whoa, not so fast. Just lie still, I'll take you."_

"_You can't carry me –"_

"_Who says I can't?" Nick asked, smiling. "That's where I'm gonna prove you wrong, right there. Come on -" he reached to gather her in his arms. "Let us do the work. You should stay as still as possible."_

_They retreated into the tent, lying Sara down on a dry towel and removing her boots before covering her with her sleeping bag. Grissom produced some Tylenol from the first aid kit, and helped her swallow two tablets before she closed her eyes again, needing to rest. He tucked the sleeping bag snug in around her and then sat by her side. A moment later Sofia spotted that they were holding hands, Sara's hand creeping out from under the covers. She wondered if she was even aware of it._

"_It's all right," Grissom told her. "Just rest, it's okay. We're all here."_

_Sara did rest, and rested so deeply that they were soon unable to tell if she was asleep or not. Knowing that sleep could not possibly harm a head injury, and in fact could only help, they let her drift. Gradually, an anxious silence fell, and they sat with little to do but wait and listen to the growing storm outside. The raindrops pitter-pattered against the tent, the walls moving slightly in the gusty wind, and Sofia sat near the zipped entrance, her cold gun in her hand, ready and alert._

_The few flecks of conversation were exchanged in whispers._

"_Put something on," Grissom said, holding the beam of his pen-light on Catherine. "You're shivering."_

"_Here, this is yours, right?"_

_Nick reached to pick up a grey coat discarded behind him. Catherine slipped it on, looking as if she only faintly registered what they had said, her eyes still locked on Sara._

"_She'll be fine," Sofia said, wanting to reassure._

_But there was a dark look of concern in Catherine's eyes, and she said nothing._

_It was over 45 minutes later by Sofia's watch when Sara finally stirred. She emitted a sleepy moan, and then slowly opened her eyes, blinking in the dim torchlight. Her fingers slipped out of Grissom's._

"_Hey, welcome back," Nick said. "How do you feel?"_

_She sighed. "What time is it?"_

_Sofia hesitated; this seemed like a strange question. She passed an uncertain look to Grissom._

"_You've been asleep nearly an hour," he said. "Do you feel okay?"_

_She moved to sit up, the sleeping bag falling from her. Grissom reached for her, alerted by her sudden movement._

"_Yeah, I … I feel fine."_

_She blinked, looking around at the tent, at all of them gathered beside her, but asked no questions. _

"_I just … need the little girls' room."_

"_Stay there," Grissom said, stopping her. "If you're going to be sick, just do it in the bag. Don't get up."_

_She stared at him, smiling slightly._

"_Well, as enticing as that sounds, I actually do need to –"_

_She broke off, her meaning clear._

"_Put your shoes on, and the jacket," Sofia said, moving forward, "I'll take you."_

"_Good."_

"_We'll all go," Grissom corrected._

"_Oh great," Sara said, smiling. "A class excursion."_

_Sara walked under her own steam to the toilet, refusing point blank Nick's offer to carry her. Sofia, watching her, felt glad that she seemed to have her colour back and be steady on her feet, and felt a small ray of hope that maybe it was not as serious as they had feared. The group trudged together through the wet grass and the steady rain, until they reached the small outbuilding. Sofia opened the door, checking with the barrel of her gun that it was empty._

"_Here," Catherine offered, "take the light."_

"_Thanks."_

"_Don't lock the door," Sofia said quickly. "We'll hold it."_

_She disappeared inside, and Catherine held onto the handle. Several moments passed._

"_Are you all right?" Grissom asked, concerned by the silence. "We can't hear anything."_

"_You know, if you were a gentleman, you wouldn't listen," Sara replied._

"_It's a natural bodily function, Sara, just do it. If you're embarrassed, we'll keep talking. Just engage with us so we know you're okay."_

"_Well as touching as it is to have an audience –"_

"_Sing something," Grissom suggested innocently. "Do you know any songs? Any poetry?"_

"_I hope you're not asking me to recite Shakespeare, 'cos I'm telling you now is not the opportune moment."_

"_Make it Julie Andrews if you like," Nick suggested. "The Hills are Alive? My Favourite Things?"_

"_Or keep arguing, so long as we can hear you," Catherine said._

_But silence fell. Grissom looked uneasy._

"_How about nursery rhymes?" he suggested. "Know any of those?"_

_Silence._

"_Come on, I'll start you off. We can round robin."_

"_Go ahead."_

_Grissom began to sing. "Incy wincy spider, climbed up the water spout, down came the rain and washed poor incy out …"_

_Sofia laughed to herself as Grissom proceeded innocently through the entire chorus. Catherine and Nick looked at him in amused disbelief. When he finished, Nick grinned at him._

"_You know, all these years of working together, and I never knew …"_

_Grissom ignored him. "Sara?"_

"_You know it figures that you'd choose a nursery rhyme about bugs," Sara replied, sounding amused._

_Grissom smiled. "Actually, I just like actions."_

_Sara said nothing._

"_I know an Australian one about a redback spider on the toilet seat."_

_But Sara still did not reply._

_Catherine knocked on the door. "Sara?"_

_Nothing._

"_You okay in there?"_

_When she did not reply, Catherine moved, pushing open the door an inch to peek around. _

"_Sara?"_

_Sofia never knew what she saw, or whether Sara was feeling ill or merely upset, but only saw Catherine move inside without hesitation, and then the noises of her issuing reassurance. She did see the worry on Grissom's face, and when Catherine emerged with Sara a minute later, Sofia stepped forward to take her other side. They walked her back to the shelter in silence, and Sara sat down on the bench, pushing her wet hair back and looking morosely out into the storm._

"_You wanna go lie down?" Catherine offered, arm around her._

_Sara shook her head. "No. I'm fine."_

_For the first time, Sofia believed her, there being no trace of illness in her face._

_Grissom still looked concerned. After a moment of hesitation he pulled a pack of playing cards from his pocket._

"_I have cards," he said, shrugging._

"_What did you have in mind?" Catherine asked. "Five hundred? Poker?" She gave a teasing look. "Strip poker?"_

_Sara raised an eyebrow. "I am not going back to Ecklie and trying to justify that we had an orgy up here."_

"_Pity," Grissom said, sitting down. "I guess poker it is."_

_As Sofia went to sit down, Nick caught her elbow._

"_I'm just gonna get changed, get out of these damp clothes. I'll be back in a minute, okay?"_

"_Sure," Sofia replied._

_She sat down, and Grissom began to deal._


	16. Chapter 16

Sitting on the floor of the bathroom, Sara sighed, the pieces of the obscure puzzle beginning to fall into place.

"I do remember the card games," she confessed. "And the weather, trying to pass the time."

"We played for quite a while," Catherine said, looking reminiscent. "You sat with us, in Sofia's coat, my beanie … played a few rounds. Nick was still in the tent – he didn't want to tell us, but I don't think he was feeling too well. Then the rain stopped, Nick surfaced, I saw him take a leak near the trees, and …" she shrugged. "The rest is history."

But mulling the story over, Sara still thought it did not make sense.

"I still don't get it," Sara said, shaking her head to Nick. "Why did you leave?"

"Well, Catherine's right," he said awkwardly. "I was taking a leak, and thought I saw something in those trees. Heard twigs snapping, shuffling, like there was someone there. I grabbed my gun, had to look."

"You should have told us straightaway. Yelled out, said something –"

"I felt responsible for your safety," he admitted. "And you have to understand how scary it was, sitting there, knowing he was lurking nearby in those trees, eyeing off the women in your team. I mean, even when I sat there with you on that concrete, Sara, I heard what the others were discussing. And I think Warrick and Lou were right. I mean, I don't know, call it my Texas upbringing if you like, but there was no way I was gonna let any of the three of you take a step into that forest and put you at risk. If caring makes me flawed, then so be it."

A small part of Sara felt touched by his words, yet she nevertheless found his actions confusing.

"Well … that is touching, but you still disappeared, completely without word, you left us absolutely terrified not knowing if you were okay. Not to mention that there is no evidence whatsoever that what we were dealing with up there was a sex predator."

"Isn't there?" Catherine asked softly. Her blue eyes were firm.

Sara stared, for a second unable to believe that she was taking Nick's side.

"A sex predator doesn't even explain half of what we saw up there," she said.

"You're a scientist," Catherine said swiftly. "Are you seriously telling me you think it was a ghost, and not a man? That a spectre took you down into those trees? With nothing better to do than to haunt a deserted National Park on a rainy night?"

Sara hesitated, knowing it sounded ridiculous, and yet the memories of the eerie lights and atmosphere of the forest were hard to shift.

"You had a head injury," Catherine reminded her. "You say you saw these hovering lights, that you thought you heard something in that forest, but Sara –" she hesitated, softening, "- you also say you saw Nick get shot. And that didn't happen. I mean, you had a head injury, hypothermia, who knows what you saw? All we can go on is the evidence. And what little we have is speaking loud and clear."

"We don't have any evidence –"

"Are you sure about that?" Nick asked quietly. "How many ghosts do you know that fire guns? Shoot off the number of rounds that we were dodging? And as for everything else … don't you find it strange?"

"Strange?"

Nick smiled, looking deeply awkward. "You know the story that Warrick and Vartann are telling, right? And when you take a step back, look at it all objectively, you must be able to see what they're saying. I mean don't you find it odd that when we all first arrived at camp and divided into pairs to search, that it took such an interest in Catherine and Sofia? That they got so conveniently separated? That that light Sofia saw just happened to go out the second you all came running to her aid?"

Sara hesitated, wordless.

"And then later, when you both went to the bathroom, that it seized the opportunity to strike again? I mean, Grissom, me, Warrick … we all used that toilet and it took no interest whatsoever in us. And Warrick and Vartann, they spent well over _twelve hours_ lost in that forest, and they saw zilch. And I was alone in that forest, completely exposed, and I came across absolutely nothing, until I stumbled upon you and Sofia. I mean, do you see the pattern here? Do you really think all that's just coincidence? If it is a ghost, it's remarkably picky, don't you think?"

A chill started to sink through Sara. Nick talked on.

"And after I left camp, and you three walked into those trees with Grissom, it didn't choose to go for me, even though that would've made sense. I mean, if you're gonna bump off the team, you'd start with the ones who are alone, right? But it didn't. It didn't give a damn about me. It followed the three of you. And then when you and Sofia split from Grissom and Catherine, it didn't bother with Grissom, it stuck with you. Two women, alone together. And then you stumbled upon my path, we came under fire, but you know what's curious about all this? That despite all the hours we spent in the forest after that, none of us saw anything. I mean, all Warrick and Vartann got was wet out there in those trees. Grissom stuck tight to Catherine, and after that they saw nothing. Same thing with me and Sofia, I had her in my arms most of the night. I mean, you can crunch the numbers on the odds on all that happening by chance, but I think they're long."

Sara felt sick. Suddenly Warrick's words floated back to her, whispered to Brass in the ambulance: _"… he went for the girls first …"_

Even then, Warrick had seen it.

She swallowed, sighing.

"I know this explanation hurts, but you've got to admit it makes sense," Nick said quietly. "You're all attractive women. Is it really easier to believe that a ghost did this?"

XXX

In the night, Sara slept fitfully, Nick's words ringing through her mind. Even with the distance of several hours, a hot shower and a warm, cosy sleep, she had not been able to shake them off. She lay awake, staring at the digital clock on her bedside table, knowing all her colleagues were probably well asleep in their various residences across Las Vegas. The thought made her feel strangely lonely, isolated from the only people who understood.

It was nearly dawn when the summons came, the first hint of light peeking around the bedroom curtains, when her cell phone rang shrill on the bedstand.

She reached blindly to grab it, feeling as she did the exhaustion in her body from lack of sleep.

"Hello?"

"It's me," came Grissom's voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she replied, and sensing there was more to his call than an enquiry after her health, added, "What's up?"

"I've just had a call from Brass, he wants us all back at PD as soon as possible."

Sara sat up, pushing her hair back from her face. Brass had promised them all a good night's rest and day off before they were expected back at the start of the next graveyard shift.

"Did he say why?"

"No. But he sounds agitated."

Sara pushed back the bedcovers. "I'll meet you there."

It was half an hour later that Sara arrived at PD, and after parking and locking her car, turned around to see Catherine approaching from her own car several spots away. Though she looked refreshed from a good night's sleep, she passed Sara a puzzled look as they turned to walk together for the entrance.

"Grissom called you too?"

"Yeah," Sara replied. "Something about Brass wanting to see us."

Catherine looked worried. "Well, it doesn't sound good – so much for our relaxing day off."

Sara felt the same. Though she was not surprised by the summons itself, as Brass had promised to keep them apprised of the case, the hour and urgency gave her cause for concern. It was as if Brass had only barely managed to wait for sunrise before calling them in.

Sara grasped Catherine's elbow to halt her as an SUV swept past in front of them, gliding into a spot nearby. She paused as she recognised the passengers.

"Nick," Catherine observed, stopping with her.

"And Sofia," Sara added.

But she narrowed her eyes as they stepped out of the car, spotting something. She lowered her voice so only Catherine could hear.

"Aren't they –"

"- yesterday's clothes?" Catherine guessed, to Sara's nod. "Yeah, Nick offered her his spare room last night. I think they needed some time together."

There was a note of concern and sympathy in her voice which Sara understood. She knew both of them had had a rough time on the mountain, and if they felt relief from the trauma in each other's presence, then that was only natural.

She greeted both of them with a friendly smile, and they proceeded together into the building where they found Brass waiting for them in a large meeting room. He looked harassed and sleep-deprived, standing at a whiteboard with a large map of the national park displayed, various locations on it marked with coloured pins and scribbled notes. By the far wall, their hiking packs and personal possessions were laid out in a neat line, and at the table sat Grissom, all ready with Vartann and Warrick. They all exchanged greetings as they entered.

"Hey, thanks for coming," Brass said, waving them inside. "Take a seat."

Sara took her seat next to Grissom, who passed her a ready piping hot coffee as she sat down.

Brass clicked the door closed.

"You recovered our gear then," Vartann said, eyeing their bags against the wall.

"Yeah," Brass replied, sitting down with a thick folder in his hand. "We finished up there last night. The scene's been released."

"Does that mean the Park's back open for business?" Catherine asked.

"Well – we'll come to that. First, I just wanted to have a chat with you all, have a bit of a catch up, talk about a few things."

"What's going on?" Sara asked, not fooled by his casual manner.

Brass hesitated.

"You can tell us," Grissom said. "Technically, it's still our case."

Brass studied them a moment, then with a sigh opened the folder. Sara saw it was stuffed with papers and photos.

"We've finished recovering the evidence," he said heavily. "We had days and swing out there for nearly 24 hours collecting, and the lab's just finished processing the results. I asked you to come in just so we can run through what we've found, bring you up to speed before the rumours do."

They said nothing. Catherine raised an eyebrow, waiting.

"We've had some problems – some things which didn't go as expected."

"Problems?" Grissom repeated.

"Some things in your statements, your account of events, is different to what we actually found out there in the forest."

Sara stared; she already felt lost.

"Different how?" Warrick asked.

"Well, let's start with the body you found," Brass said, flicking over a few pages. "Now we had four of you testify that you found a body out there in the forest –"

"We did," Sara said swiftly.

"- and that you then marked the spot with a piece of clothing so it could be recovered later. Now our search team did locate the cave in which you spent the night, and the bra which you'd tied to the tree a short distance away. But take a look at what we found."

He pulled out a full page photo, sliding it across the table to Catherine. Glancing at it, Sara saw nothing but a picture of the leafy, damp forest floor.

"Well, there's nothing there," Warrick said, stating the obvious.

Brass raised an eyebrow, his point made.

"What a minute," Catherine said, swiftly firing up, "you're saying you didn't find anything?"

"We searched every inch of that forest within a one mile radius," Brass said. "There was no body. Your clothing marked nothing. We even sent soil samples from the spot you'd marked to the lab for analysis, they've confirmed no evidence of any decomp."

"Are you saying she's lying?" Sofia asked quickly. "I was there, there was a body –"

"I'm not saying there wasn't," Brass said calmly. "You want me to say I believe you? I do. I'm just telling you what we found."

Catherine passed through more of the photos, her expression steadily turning more puzzled. Grissom pushed on his glasses, frowning, as he took them from her, spreading them out before them.

"So what you're saying is," he said slowly, "is that either this body was moved, or –"

"- or … it wasn't there in the first place," Nick finished gravely.

A silence prickled throughout the room. Suddenly Sara understood why they had been called in at dawn.

"No," she said swiftly. "I'm sorry, but that's nonsense. You may be able to argue that one of us hallucinated, that maybe I did, but not all four of us. It's just not possible."

"Or like Grissom said maybe the body was moved," Vartann suggested. "Maybe whoever was tailing you out there buried the evidence after you left, disposed of it before we could recover it."

"But the negative soil sample?" Warrick asked. "Even if it had only been there a short time it would've shown up in the analysis."

"Well we don't know for sure, the body wasn't showing any signs of decomp when we found it," Catherine said, looking suddenly worried. "It looked fresh."

They drifted off into thought, no one having any answers.

"Is that it?" Grissom asked Brass.

"No," Brass said, looking as if he wished that it were. "We also recovered the bullets and shell casings from your gun battles – the shell casing Sara and Sofia found in the dirt when you were shot at on the ledge, plus all those from later when they were fired upon near the fallen tree."

"What did you find?" Sofia asked.

Again, Brass hesitated.

"Don't tell me this is more bad news," Catherine said.

"Well … that depends on how you look at it," Brass replied. He pulled out another piece of paper. "The shell casing you found at the rocks was analysed by both ballistics and trace. They've estimated it's at least 60 years old, estimated to be from a world war two service weapon. Organic compounds found inside the casing indicate it had been there for some years."

Sara stared; words failed her. Sofia's eyebrows contracted in confusion as she read the paper.

"CSI conducted a thorough search of the area, found no trace of any other casings, bullets, or any evidence of any kind."

"Well," Nick said uncertainly, "if they'd fired a bullet, in could've ended up virtually anywhere in a forest that size. The one you collected may have been an incidental finding, but it doesn't prove it never happened."

"It … definitely happened," Sara said, the memory returning with unpleasant clarity.

"Well maybe it did," Brass said, "but you may want to take a look at these results, too."

He passed them several sheets of bound paper which Sara recognised as ballistics results.

"Ballistics tests from the array of bullets and shell casings recovered from your gun battle," he supplied. "You'll see from the results that –"

"- these are all ours," Grissom said, his eyes flying down the table of results.

"19 bullets and casings recovered," Brass summarised. "Eleven of those were matched to Nick's gun, eight from Sofia's, none from Sara's."

"And our suspect?" Warrick asked, frowning. "Your third party?"

But Brass did not answer, appearing unable to bring himself to say it.

"You didn't collect any," Catherine said, reading his expression.

"You've got to be kidding me," Nick said, looking outraged. "Are you saying we imagined those things? That I just imagined coming under fire?"

"I'm saying no such thing," Brass said calmly.

"But … you're saying that's what the evidence is saying," Grissom said.

Brass did not answer.

Sara pushed her chair back, snatching up her coffee.

"I think I've had enough," she said bluntly. She tried to pass Brass a smile. "Thanks for the cosy catch-up, but –"

"Sara, sit down."

Brass had got to his feet, stretching out a hand toward her in a pacifying sort of way. She hesitated a millisecond, her blood boiling, but Brass' eyes were filled only with pity – as understanding as they had been when she had sat with him in the ambulance in the desert.

"Please," he added.

She felt Grissom take her sleeve, hinting for her to sit. Sighing, she did.

"You want to know why I called you in here?" he asked. "This is why. Because I knew what you'd say and I knew how you'd take it, and so I wanted you to hear it from us first before you get blindsided by the gossip flying around your lab. Now I don't think you're crazy. We've all worked together too long, and I respect you all too much. But the evidence is what it is, and I can guarantee you that no one missed anything. Now I know it doesn't make sense, and if you want to question it, that's fine. You're free to take this copy of the file, study it at your leisure. We're not saying you're crazy, and we're not saying that what you told us happened isn't the truth. All we're saying is that at this stage, as it stands right now … we've done all we can."

He looked at them with genuine pity, and Sara felt suddenly guilty for her outburst.

"So that's it?" Vartann asked quietly. "It gets closed as unsolved?"

"Until any new leads show up, yeah," Brass said. "We've received orders."

A depressed silence hung in the air.

"Then it was all for nothing," Nick said sadly. "The whole thing."

"I wish I had the answers," Brass said. "I really do."

No one knew what to say.

* * *

><p><em>Not far at all to go - maybe just one more chapter, I think. I have a feeling I'll be in trouble if I don't bring a tad more resolution to the whole matter ... but we'll see how we go. Hopefully the ending won't disappoint! ;)<em>

_Thanks to all those who've been reading and leaving feedback, knowing people appreciate it makes all the difference in the world._


	17. Chapter 17

Second last chapter ...

* * *

><p><em>They did study the file, but found no answers. They took it to the lab, shut themselves in the layout room and mulled over it piece by piece, but the answer, if there was one, remained elusive. Gradually the conversation faded into weary circles, until Grissom finally shut the cover of the file hours later. He felt hopeless as he watched the expressions on his team member's faces, the look of weary dejection on Nick's face, the flat silence from Sofia. He knew they needed closure, and yet there was none. <em>

_They had no choice but to return to work, and hope it would serve as a distraction. To that end, Sofia and Vartann returned to their work as detectives, and Grissom led his own team back out into the field. Yet three days later, he had to concede there had been little benefit. Warrick, it seemed, was relatively fine, having suffered little more in the forest than weather exposure, and he appeared to quickly shake off any trace of the experience. Yet Nick, Sara and Catherine, all looked wearier than ever, and Grissom watched with a growing sense of pity and helplessness as the team lost its edge._

_On the third day, Grissom watched from the upstairs bedroom of a Seven Hills home as Sara slowly loaded evidence into the back of an SUV outside. With the last piece secure she paused, sitting down on the tray, alone. The sight tugged at his heartstrings. _

"_Gil?"_

_Grissom jumped at Brass' voice, and turned to see him standing in the doorway._

"_Sorry," he said, looking apologetic as he crossed the room, joining him at the window. His eyes softened with concern as he followed Grissom's gaze to the street outside, where Sara sat with her head in her hands. _

"_How are they doing?" he asked softly._

_Grissom glanced into Brass' face, but knew he could trust him._

"_I'm not sure," he replied._

_He watched a moment longer, in time to see Greg gingerly approach Nick, who was gazing down into a garden bed at the perimeter, camera in hand. Yet something in Nick's tired expression told him that he was struggling to focus, and sure enough, a moment later Greg said something, and Nick nodded, and looking grateful, passed the camera over._

"_They're struggling," Brass said, reading the scene._

"_Warrick and Greg are fine," Grissom replied. "But the others –"_

"_I know. Vartann's fine, too. But let's face it, neither him nor Warrick saw anything out there. To them it was just a night hike with a wrong turn."_

"_And Sofia?" Grissom queried._

"_She's not doing too well. I caught her in a down mood this morning, sent her home to get some rest. Hopefully it'll help – I don't know."_

_Grissom nodded. Knowing the problem was one thing, but knowing the solution …_

"_They're burnt out, Gil. Your team, Sofia … and who can blame them. This isn't one you can just file away in your mind, not think about again. You can't dodge the memories, the fear of what happened up there. They need help."_

"_I don't think counselling will help," Grissom said. "Even if they did agree."_

"_I wasn't thinking of counselling. But maybe it might help to just take a night off, take some time together, you know, a team builder or something. The psychologist at the hospital told us that in traumatic situations like these, sometimes just being together can help. Maybe you should give it some thought. Go discuss what you need to discuss, deal with it any way you can."_

"_We can't just walk off the job for a night. We have a shift to cover."_

"_Well, Greg and Warrick can handle it. Ecklie can round them up some help if they need it. It's only one night."_

_Grissom's eyes returned to Sara, and the pain resumed. He felt himself give in._

"_They're falling apart, Gil. And if we're not careful it's only going to get worse. And that's not in the department's interest any more than it is yours. So why don't you finish this scene, and then round up the others and get out of here. No one wants this to hurt long term."_

_Grissom nodded. "Maybe we will – thank you."_

"_Hey," he said, "what are friends for?"_

_XXX_

_Deep in the Nevada desert, Sara rolled her SUV to a stop, killing the engine. Outside, it was dusk, the first stars twinkling in the night sky, shining peacefully above the endless expanse of lonely desert. In the low light she could just make out the camp site; the circle of logs around a low flickering fire, Warrick helping Catherine unroll a tent nearby. _

_Sighing, she opened the car door, stepping out into the cool night air, and feeling the same comic disbelief she had felt when Grissom had phoned with the directions late that afternoon._

"_Camping," she said, as Grissom passed her an innocent smile from his position adding wood to the fire. "Out of all the bonding exercises you could have chosen for our team, you went with camping." _

"_I did," he said, looking unfazed._

_She waited for an explanation but none came._

"_Is this a facing your fears kind of thing?" _

_He stood up, approaching her. "Are you trying to tell us you have a fear of camping?"_

"_With good reason," she replied, smiling widely as he moved to help her with her gear. "The last time my boss took us camping we ended up getting lost and spent the night running for our lives."_

_A flicker of concern passed through his eyes, then disappeared again._

"_Have you ever been stargazing?"_

_She blanked. "Huh?"_

"_You get one of the best views in the country right here," he said. "In the desert, away from the city lights. Most people will admitting to liking the stars, but very few ever actually take the time to admire them – nature in all its beauty."_

_She smiled to herself. There was something completely at ease in his manner, a relaxed side of him she rarely saw. _

"_You do realise there isn't anyone else I'd do this for?" she said seriously._

"_I do," he said, placing her pack down, and touching her briefly on the arm. "And I appreciate the sacrifice."_

"_If it makes you feel any better, we came prepared this time," Catherine said, standing up and handing her a beer from a small stash nearby._

"_That is better," she replied, smiling, "thanks."_

"_Welcome," replied Warrick, as he buried the rest in some ice._

"_May I remind everyone that we're on the clock," Grissom said. "You're being paid to be here, and so you can consider this a work outing like any other. No one gets drunk."_

"_Well, Gil," Catherine said, passing him a teasing smile, "that all depends on what you've got planned for us."_

"_I'll second that," Nick said, sitting down on a log to join them as the fire crackled. "If we came all the way out here for a psychotherapy session I reserve my right to drink."_

"_Maybe he's planning another game of strip poker," Warrick teased, looking amused._

"_Another?" Sara asked, nearly choking on her beer. "We played poker, not strip poker."_

"_That's not the story going around the lab," Warrick replied._

"_Nor PD," Vartann added._

"_And who started that one?" Catherine asked, looking faintly amused. "Hodges?"_

"_Probably," Warrick laughed. "He's probably wishing he was there."_

"_In any case you can't expect us to believe that you brought us all the way out here for some stargazing," Nick said to Grissom. "I mean, it's a nice line, it sounds romantic, but I'm pretty sure you didn't ask me out here to seduce me. So what's going on?"_

"_Sofia's not here yet," Grissom reminded him. "Until she is, let's just focus on setting up camp and getting some dinner."_

_They did set up camp, Warrick and Vartann helping to erect all the tents as Grissom built up the fire, preparing for a long night. Sara privately agreed with Nick, suspecting that Grissom had something more up his sleeve besides a night by the fire, but said nothing, busying herself instead with setting up her makeshift bed inside the tent she would be again sharing with Catherine. It was an hour later that Sofia rolled in, looking tired from what had evidently already been a long day, and sharing a warm, private hug on the other side of the car with Nick. But it was not until several hours later, when the clock was ticking over to 11:00pm that anything happened. It was then that Warrick and Vartann reluctantly rose, Warrick removing his arm from where it had rested comfortably around Catherine's shoulders, and gathered their things to head back to Vegas and hold the fort for the graveyard shift at midnight._

_Sara accepted warmly the goodbye hugs both men gave her, and watched as their taillights faded into the distance. She looked back then toward the fire, the flames crackling and dancing around at their feet. She felt as if they were completely alone in the universe, the desert extending to the horizon in every direction, and knowing there was not another person for miles._

"_All right, spill," Catherine said, sighing and looking to Grissom. "Time's up on the silence. What's going on?"_

"_You didn't want to say anything in front of Warrick and Vartann, did you?" Sara guessed, noting his curious silence and glances to his watch over the past several hours._

"_No, I didn't," Grissom replied. He carefully put aside his beer, and for a moment there was silence except for the crackling of the fire. "I think we need to talk, and I wanted us to do it out here where we're alone. I want to be clear that anything that's said now, or anytime tonight, stays strictly between the five of us. Not a word to anyone else."_

"_Sounds serious," Nick said warily. _

"_It is."_

"_Serious enough to leave out Warrick and Lou?" Catherine asked. "You know they know the whole story anyway."_

"_Warrick and Vartann had a different experience to what the five of us had. And they're not bothered by it either. So yes, this is strictly between us. Is that clear?"_

_Sara hesitated, feeling nervous about what he had in store, but when she saw Catherine, Nick and Sofia nod, she joined them. _

"_All right, then." _

"_You look like you have a theory," Sofia said, eyeing him closely._

"_I do," he replied. "But it is just a theory, and until we have a solid conclusion, everyone here is free to make up their own minds. I wasn't going to say anything, but under the circumstances, with how I know everyone's been feeling, I think we may need to discuss it."_

"_Well shoot," Nick said. "We're all ears. What is it?"_

"_Let's take each event separately and go through them one at a time – starting with what happened to Sara."_

_Sara felt something in her chest clench, not even remotely wanting to discuss it._

"_Maybe she doesn't want to go through that again," Sofia said, giving Grissom a pointed look._

"_And if we can put your mind at ease?" Grissom asked Sara._

_Sara said nothing, shaking her head a little._

"_Sofia told you what she saw happen after we found you in the forest, but that doesn't necessarily tell us what actually did happen. The only thing you heard on that was Warrick's theory – and a theory doesn't make it true. It was a supposition born out of a moment of panic and fear, nothing more."_

_Sara remained silent. It was hard to say how much the knowledge that she had nearly died unnerved her, how unsettling it was to know that she had narrowly escaped being assaulted._

_With a sideways look to Grissom, Catherine got up and sat down next to her. Sara felt her put ahand on her back._

_Feeling slightly better, Sara said, "So you disagree with Warrick?"_

"_Yes, I do," he said. "Warrick assumed you'd been assaulted, that you'd sustained a blow to the head and been carried or dragged down into that forest, yet there's no clear evidence of any third party even being at the scene. We all assumed at the time that you had a head injury, and yet when I asked you explicitly if you had a headache, or if you were in any pain at all, you denied it. All you said was that you were dizzy and nauseated."_

"_Well, all the evidence at the time pointed toward a head injury," Nick said. "A concussion at the least."_

"_But without a headache?" Grissom asked. "Without any mark on her head to indicate she'd been hit, or any pain at all? Sofia was barely five feet away when it happened, and yet all she heard was Sara report she'd seen something. Other than that there was silence. There was no sign of a struggle. If you were going to attack someone, overcome the fact that they're armed, knock them out, and drag them into the forest, you'd have to make noise. It'd be impossible to do all that silently, without Sofia hearing."_

_Sara hesitated; his words had a ring of truth to them._

"_Then … what do you think happened?" Nick asked._

"_Let's start with what we know," Grissom said. "Sara was standing outside that toilet waiting for Sofia. We know Sara was waiting out there in absolute darkness, that she'd loaned her torch to Sofia to use, and that the weather was stormy. The wind was gusting through the trees, it was raining, and then, amongst all of that – Sara thought she saw something in the forest – something she referred to as a shadow, moving in the distance. And something she never identified as being human."_

"_You're saying it was an animal?" Catherine said._

"_It's possible," Grissom said, shrugging. "Any forest is full of nocturnal animals which may have been scared by a storm. It might have even been the trees themselves – branches thrashing and breaking in the wind."_

"_So …" Sofia stared at Grissom, thinking it through. "Sara pulled her weapon, stepped into the trees and …"_

"_How'd she get hurt?" Nick asked._

_But beside her Catherine made a noise of dawning realisation. _

"_Walking in the dark," she said softly._

"_It's the most likely explanation," Grissom agreed. "She has no light, steps into a forest barely able to see her own feet. We may never know what happened, but it's possible that she just tripped in the dark, maybe was even winded, fainted or hit her head. We only assumed there'd been a third party because we were predisposed to believe there would be one, due to the case we were working. It never occurred to us that there might be a natural explanation."_

"_The power of suggestion," Sofia said, nodding. "We went in briefed for a manhunt, to search for a potential killer, so when we found one of our own on the ground, we assumed we'd found the killer."_

"_Exactly," Grissom said._

"_But wait a minute," Nick said. "We had other sightings of this guy. Sofia said herself she saw him in the trees, that's why we carried Sara back to the shelter, got out of there."_

"_I … saw movement," Sofia said. "I can't say for sure it was a human being. In hindsight … it could have been anything."_

"_And the light you saw? You're not gonna tell me that was an animal."_

"_She never said it was supernatural," Sara reminded him. "It could have been anything."_

"_What Sofia saw, and in fact what we saw later when we followed it through the forest, is actually a well-documented natural phenomenon," Grissom said. "Sightings of those lights have been recorded all over the world throughout history, and are steeped in folklore. In some countries they're known as a will-o'-the-wisp, in others a marsh light or a ghost light, or even a min min light. They're lights that often appear in darkness, in remote locations, and are seen by travellers to be moving mysteriously through the landscape, often seemingly leading them into danger. The scientific explanations vary according to each case, but what's relevant to us is that the sighting coincided with a storm, and that the lights soon disappeared. A possible explanation is ball lightning."_

"_Ball lightning," Catherine repeated, with apparent disbelief._

"_Why not?" Grissom said. "It may be rare, but it's certainly been proven to exist. We were in a remote location, in the midst of a highly charged thunderstorm, and I think when you spend your entire life living in an urban environment it can easy to forget some of nature's secrets. The human race has become so civilised we think we now fully understand our world, that we have a solid grip on it. But when we step out into the trees, into the rain and the darkness, with so many unfamiliar sounds around us, we find ourselves in the midst of a whole new world we've never experienced before. And so we react with fear, with animal instinct, and the end result is that we respond with emotion instead of science and logic. The ancient tribes believed thunderstorms, plagues and famines were the work of angry gods, instead of science and mother nature, and perhaps when we were up on the mountain, put back in touch with mother nature, we reacted no differently. We didn't assume that any of what we experienced had a scientific explanation; we reacted in the first instance with uncertainty and panic, we fled scared and came out with a ghost."_

"_What you're saying is that we believed it was supernatural simply because it was easier to believe that it was," Sara said, feeling flat with the realisation that he was right. "We scared ourselves into our own nightmare."_

_Catherine sighed, sounding pained with embarrassment. "So Sofia saw a light and we scared ourselves into believing it was a ghost, or a killer … Sara tripped over and we panicked that it was an assailant … we were spooked by shadows moving in the trees which were probably only products of the storm and nature … and we were so freaked out that we began to believe it all."_

"_The natural world is a scary place," Grissom said. "We've become so urbanised that we've forgotten what generations before us have known for millennia – that nature is all powerful, sometimes ruthless and terrifying, and at the end of the day, Mother Nature holds all the trump cards."_

"_Easy to forget living in Vegas," Catherine said._

"_We panicked, and almost literally scared ourselves to death," Sara said. "We fled into a forest out of fear, got lost and nearly died of hypothermia … when in reality we saw nothing more than shadows in a storm and noises on the wind."_

"_And the dead body?" Sofia asked. "There was definitely one there."_

"_There was something," Grissom said. "But can you be sure they were dead? There was certainly no evidence that they were shot."_

_Sara stared. "You're saying they were alive?"_

"_I'm saying it can't be excluded. We had hypothermia; it's entirely possible any of our three missing hikers may have had it too. Sometimes the body temperature can drop so low it gives the appearance of being dead. And as CSIs, trained as we are, we were careful not to touch the body. We reacted with professional instinct; assuming she was dead, as we had been briefed that what we had was three likely dead hikers. So when we found one, apparently dead, it never occurred to us that something more may be going on. She might have been unconscious, hypothermia or a seizure. Maybe even a heart attack. At that stage we were already so panicked that we assumed she was dead, but we have no data to say that she was. And none of us are medically trained."_

"_And the gun battle?" Nick asked. "That bullet you heard flying over your heads, that nearly took you out on that ledge?"_

"_Isn't it obvious?" Grissom said._

_Sara thought about it, but came up blank._

"_Look at it objectively," he said. "Take yourselves out of the equation and look at it as a scientist. Let's say it was Days or Swing who were out there, and you were processing the scene. You have two people separated by a distance of fifty feet, each firing shots at an unseen assailant. You have eleven bullets from one gun, eight from another, and an alleged third party which neither one actually saw, left no footprints, nor which produced any bullets or casings. Both parties confirmed that the firing mysteriously ceased once they joined forces and took cover to rescue each other. What do you conclude?"_

_Suddenly Sara knew – and felt sick. Every cell in her body prickled with shock and horror. Suddenly she knew why Grissom had brought them all the way out into the desert, why he had excluded Warrick and Vartann, and why he had sworn them all to deep secrecy. _

_She did not dare to voice it, to even look at Nick or Sofia._

_And softly, painfully, the realisation was whispered by Nick._

"_We shot at each other."_

* * *

><p><em>And so the explanation is finally here, or at least what Grissom believes. Personally I feel relieved. Only one more chapter (epilogue) to go ...<em>


	18. Chapter 18

"I think we all panicked," Grissom said quietly. "And once you start to panic, to believe that you're being stalked, that someone's trying to kill you, it becomes incredibly hard to stop. The adrenaline starts pumping, you get the fight or flight response, all the instincts kick in. There's no switch you can flick to turn it off again."

"You're saying I shot at Sofia," Nick said, a tremor in his voice. "That she shot at me?"

Grissom chose his words carefully. "I think it's possible."

There was a tense pause. Nick shook his head.

"No," he said, "No way. That's crap."

"Nick," Sara started, but he ignored her.

"There's no way I'd shoot Sofia, okay? Or any of you. I'd never do that. It's easy for you to sit there and say this stuff, Grissom, but you weren't even there. There was someone in those trees, someone besides us, I don't care what your theory is."

"And yet … we said it ourselves," Catherine said, looking pained by every word. "After that, after the two of you walked off together, no one saw anything. It all mysteriously stopped."

Nick stared, his chest heaving, eyes wide.

"I'd never do that to her," he said emphatically. "She means something to me, okay? It's just not –"

But he trailed off, glancing to Sofia for support but finding none. Sofia sat in stunned shock, staring down at her hands, barely breathing.

"It's not –" But Nick's words shook, his eyes full of tears. "Oh, man …"

There was agonising pause as Nick stared in horror, and then the tears slipped. Catherine got up, but as she moved in his direction he held up a hand, standing.

"No, just leave me alone, okay? Just – just go –"

And he stood, fending her off to walk out into the desert, into the darkness under the stars. Sara heard him sniffing, saw him wipe a hand at his eyes as he went.

"I'll go," Grissom volunteered after a moment. "You stay here."

He walked off slowly in pursuit, taking his time, giving Nick the moment he needed. Sara stood, moving to sit down beside Sofia as Catherine sat on her other side.

"You okay?" Sara asked, putting an arm lightly around her.

Sofia took a deep breath; she was trembling slightly.

"I don't know what to say," she said.

"It's just a theory," Sara said. "Just like Warrick's. There's no proof to say it happened that way."

"But it makes sense," Sofia replied, looking her in the eye. "Everything he said adds up perfectly."

Sara tightened her arm slightly. She wanted to disagree, but couldn't.

"Do you think Ecklie knows?" Sofia asked quietly. "Brass and PD?"

"Ecklie?" Sara said, almost laughing. "No way. He doesn't have a logical bone in his body. Besides, they questioned each of us separately, and bar my hallucinations, every one of us told the same story. We all testified that there was a killer out there. I think they'll continue to believe it."

"We'd be fools to say otherwise," Catherine agreed. "Like Grissom said, this is all just between us. And I'm certainly not going to go running back telling them that we panicked and imagined the entire thing. Besides, no crime was committed – and that means it's no one's business but ours. And at the end of the day the only thing that matters is what we think. And what I believe is that it doesn't matter. Because no matter whose theory you choose to believe, or what might have really happened, the five of us are solid. And walking away from that kind of experience, that's all that counts."

"I agree," Sara said. "If Grissom's right, then it may be embarrassing, but it wasn't necessarily for nothing. We came out a little wiser, a little smarter, a stronger friendship –"

"- And have half of the lab and PD believing in ghosts and poltergeists," Sofia said, looking amused.

"And that we played strip poker," Catherine added, smiling.

"We might as well have if they were going to believe it anyway," Sofia said.

She glanced over her shoulder, looking at Nick and Grissom in the distance. They stood together in the dark, talking quietly. After a moment Sofia sighed.

"I should go talk to him," she said. "Sort it out."

Catherine nodded. "Good luck."

She left. Sara watched idly until Sofia was out of earshot, and then her eyes shifted to Nick, pondering the one thing which still didn't make sense.

"You still look puzzled," Catherine observed, reaching for a drink.

"I was just thinking," Sara said.

Catherine raised an eyebrow, waiting.

"I still don't understand why Nick left," she said. "Why he walked off from the camp site without telling us. I know he said it was to protect us, but …"

She shook her head; his actions still seemed strange.

"Well until he tells us otherwise we have to assume that what he told us is the truth," Catherine said, blue eyes watching Sara closely. "But if you ask me, I have to admit I thought the whole story of chivalry was kind of cute."

"You think that wasn't the reason?"

"You really want my theory?"

Sara nodded.

Catherine glanced over her shoulder at the others, but they were still in the distance. She sighed, and with the air of secrecy, shifted closer.

"Well I think part of it may have been chivalry," she said, "but you need to put his actions into context. You'd just been seriously injured, and after what Warrick said, everyone believed he'd taken you down into those trees to sexually assault you. And Nick was livid, you're one of his closest friends. So when he later thought he saw something in those trees, and followed, was it a calm act of chivalry? I doubt it."

"You think he was angry," Sara said.

"I think he may have been. Even at the time, I was afraid. And I think Sofia thought the same thing, even though Grissom was oblivious. When I saw he was gone, I didn't hesitate. I grabbed my gun and gave chase."

"To stop him," Sara realised.

She didn't finish the sentence: to stop Nick from committing murder.

"I doubt he would've gone through with it," Catherine went on. "Even if there had been someone there. His training would've kicked in. No matter how much you hate a suspect, no matter how much you might be itching to do it, you always know better than to actually carry it out."

Sara nodded. But as she did a horrifying new thought occurred to her. She froze.

"What?" Catherine asked, seeing her expression.

"Catherine … what if we weren't alone up there? What if there had been someone else?"

"You mean what if Warrick was right?"

"What if there was someone in those trees? If Nick did see something? We followed him into those trees, but we didn't see him. And we heard a shot."

Catherine's eyes widened. She threw a glance over her shoulder to ensure they were still alone and then lowered her voice, tense.

"You're suggesting Nick killed him? That that's the shot we heard, the reason why Nick never returned to camp?"

Sara felt speechless.

"Tell me you don't seriously believe that."

Sara thought about it, but then shook her head, feeling ridiculous. No, she could never imagine Nick committing a murder, and she was sure that if he had she would have seen it in his eyes and body language afterward. He had been genuinely scared and horrified at events.

"No," Sara said, recovering. "I don't believe it. I think Grissom's version of events is correct."

Catherine studied her a moment longer and then nodded.

"Good," she said. "So do I."

Later, when Grissom returned, Sara felt bad for even having suggested it, and was grateful when Catherine did not let on, but had apparently put it down to a moment of temporary insanity. Sara then opened another beer as she sat staring into the mesmerising fire, and felt Grissom's hand settle on her thigh. She glanced back over her shoulder just in time to see the shadows of Nick and Sofia kiss, Nick holding her closely with one hand in her long hair. They broke into a tight, intimate hug.

"Well that's one way to talk things out," Grissom said, catching a glance.

Sara smiled at the sight. She loved them both, and felt happy for them.

"If you ask me it happened several days ago," Catherine said, peeling her eyes away. "It was pretty obvious from the moment they latched onto each other at the hospital that something was going on."

"I think they're good for each other," Sara said.

"So do I," Grissom said. "And if it helps them get through this, then I wish them all the best."

Sara took another sip of her beer.

"We're never telling anyone, right?" she asked.

"About what?" Catherine asked. "About that –" she nodded to Nick and Sofia in the distance, "- or about that -" and she nodded to Grissom's hand settled intimately inside Sara's thigh.

Sara stopped mid-sip, as a knowing smile spread on Catherine's face.

"Something else I noticed a few days ago," she finished.

"Um … well actually I meant the case," Sara said, but she struggled to suppress a smile. Grissom's hand did not loosen around her thigh, and his thumb moved back and forth on the denim.

She stumbled for an explanation, but Catherine only smiled back, and as they locked eyes her smile widened with open affection for them both. And suddenly Sara knew, without any words being exchanged. She knew that Catherine knew, had told them she knew, but would not say anything.

"Thanks," Sara said.

"For what?" Catherine replied, shrugging with mock innocence. She placed her beer aside, rising. "I'll be back in a minute."

She walked to their tent, disappearing inside. Sara heard her unzip her bag.

"How do you feel?" Grissom asked.

"I feel fine," she replied.

His hand still roved on her thigh, and as she glimpsed into his eyes she saw him staring back at her, deeply serious. She felt something flutter in her chest, but knew from his manner that he would not kiss her, not when Catherine, Nick and Sofia were all close by. Instead, he tugged on her thigh.

"Come closer."

He opened up his arm, and she leaned in against him, snuggling. His arm held her intimately close, and he clasped her hand in his, gazing at her fingers.

"You really believe nothing happened?" Sara asked. "That we're okay?"

"I really believe it," Grissom replied, linking her fingers with his.

And relieved, she finally relaxed.

XXX

In the locker room two weeks later, Sara pulled her coat from its hanger, closing the metal door with a clang. She looked around at her colleagues – at Grissom who was putting his wallet in his pocket, at Catherine slipping her bag onto her shoulder, and at Nick sat on the wooden bench, changing his shoes.

"We about ready to go?" she asked.

"Just waiting for Sofia," Nick replied. "She said she'd be here any minute."

"Warrick and Lou are just finishing up a scene," Catherine said. "They said they'd meet us there."

Sara nodded. The outing had been Grissom's idea, and though it was one they had all embraced she was in no doubt as to why it had been arranged. She knew both Grissom and management were trying to do what they could to support them. For the first time since she had joined the Las Vegas Crime Lab, Grissom had begun to take an unusually keen interest in ensuring everyone left at the end of shift, and had a balanced lifestyle. And of the two unusually gruesome murder cases which had arrived on their books in the last two weeks, both had been allocated to Greg and Warrick. The post-shift team breakfasts and dinners had also become more frequent, and Sara felt grateful.

She looked up as Hodges sailed into the room.

"Message for the chief of Ghostbusters," he quipped. "Your DNA results are in."

He held out a sheet of paper, but Grissom did not move to take it.

"Good. Leave them on my desk, I'll take a look at them tomorrow," he said.

Hodges looked at them all with interest.

"You know, I'm aware of the recent edict that everyone in the lab is supposed to be being supportive, but these team meetings are getting frequent." He took in Sara holding her coat. "Another outing?"

"We just thought we'd round up a few more ghosts before dinner," Sara replied drily. "Expel a poltergeist or two."

Hodges looked taken aback.

"Well that's … admirable … I suppose …"

"Hodges," Grissom interrupted, relieving him of the necessity of finding words. "On my desk."

"Right."

Hodges disappeared. A moment later Sofia rounded the corner, passing a puzzled look over her shoulder as she entered.

"I just passed Hodges in the hallway, he was whistling the tune to Ghostbusters," she said.

"Sara's doing," Nick replied. "She won't let up."

Sara leaned back against the locker. "Would you rather I tell them the truth?"

"I thought we agreed we weren't ever going to talk about that?" Catherine asked.

"Exactly," Sara replied, smiling. "But the way I see it, as long as everyone is thinking ghosts anyway, we might as well have a little fun."

Nick smiled up at her as he finished tying his shoes. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you? Winding up Hodges and the lab techs?"

Sara grinned. "Possibly."

She looked away a moment as Nick greeted Sofia; the two shared a gentle kiss. Grissom took Sara's arm, taking her coat.

"Let me give you a hand," he said.

He held the coat open for her, helping her slip it on. Sara smiled as his fingers brushed momentarily against her neck.

She turned back in time to see Catherine and Sofia trying to withhold smiles.

"What?" Grissom said.

"Much more of that and it won't matter that I held my tongue," Catherine said. "Ecklie will be able to see the Cupid fluttering above your heads."

"I'm doing your salary evaluation next week, Catherine," Grissom said pointedly.

"And after that?" Nick asked, grinning.

"After that I'll you remind you all how long we've been friends," he said.

"Hey, we're doing our part," Catherine said lightly. "Wouldn't be half as difficult if Sara didn't look so giddy."

"Giddy?" Sara repeated, laughing.

"Still, as long as you're happy, though, right?" Nick said, turning serious.

"Right," Grissom said.

"You know it's been a terrible two weeks," Sara said. "But I think that now, finally, things are starting to look up."

"I think so too," Sofia said.

"Let's just keep moving forward, right?" Catherine said. "Leave it far, far behind us."

"I'll second that," Grissom replied.

And together, they walked out the door.

* * *

><p><em>The End.<em>

_I'm not sure how I feel about it now it's finished. The end product has ended up quite different from what I'd original envisaged. But I kinda like the ending. And in regards to the hint of GSR, I really do believe that in this context Catherine would've kept their secret. She has simply been friends with Grissom for too long, and if she senses that he's genuinely in love, I can't see her standing in the way. But maybe that's just me. _

_I hope everyone who's made it this far enjoyed the story. Who knows - maybe I'll write another one day ... either way, thanks for reading._


End file.
